Maegan Bennett
A small town girl with BIG dreams.
Dear Cancer Researchers, In 2004, I got a phone call from my father that I will remember forever. He called to tell me that my beautiful grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I was devastated. The women I looked up to for being so strong was now barely able to lift her head. This innocent little old woman, like many others, had to suffer for four long years because of you. Luckily, my grandmother is still here on this earth with me, but unfortunately that is not the case for many other people. Due to you, many people today are living without grandparents, parents, and siblings. I don’t understand why it is taking so long for you to find a cure. You literally spend every day in a lab working but never come out with the answer we are all waiting for. Every day that you walk out of that laboratory without a cure more and more people are dying. I know you don’t enjoy watching people suffer and die, so what are you waiting for? Per the American Cancer Society, an estimated 595,690 people will die from cancer in the US alone in 2016. That’s half of a million people that are dying because you have not found a way to stop this disease. Cancer is taking over. More and more people are being diagnosed each year. It is predicted by the American Cancer Society that about 1,685,210 new cancer cases will develop this year. With this many cases, there are not many people you will find who are not being affected in some way. They may not have cancer themselves, but it is likely that they know either a loved one, friend, patient, or even a pet that is being affected by this terrible disease. Cancer is not only taking the lives of many adults but also of many innocent children. These children are not getting the chance to grow up and experience life’s milestones. They will never get their license, or walk across the stage at graduation, or get married to the love of their life. They are missing out on all the great things that we all take for granted. I am just curious to know what you are doing with all the money that is raised and set aside for you to do research. Several organizations like Susan G. Komen and The American Cancer Society donate billions of dollars to you in order for you to find a cure for this terrible disease. Not to mention the money the federal government sets aside in our fiscal budget to help the National Cancer Institute. In the current budget, the National Cancer Institute’s allocation was $5.21 billion, and this was increased from last year’s budget of $260.5 million. In addition, we as citizens in towns small and large are hosting events and fundraisers to help raise money to find the cure for cancer. We are doing our best to help by raising money to supply you with the necessary tools and equipment needed, yet you still haven’t come up with anything. So, what are you really using this money for? It clearly isn’t going towards cancer research, because if it was we would have a cure by now. Another question: Why are we paying you so much money? You are making anywhere from $45,007 - $119,950 a year, yet we still don’t have a cure for cancer. You would think that someone making that much money is doing something pretty important, but I have not seen anything that impresses me. All that I have seen come from your work is a lot of failures. Sure, you may have come close a couple of times, but people are continuing to die every day, so I do not consider that a success. You would think that after all the years you spent in school, and with the ample amount of money you are provided with, that you would be able to figure something out by now, but perhaps not. I cannot fathom that cancer can be that complicated to figure out. You have been working for decades to find a cure, but still having nothing to show us. Even though it makes me upset that you haven’t found a cure, I still appreciate all the hard work and effort you put into discovering new ways to prevent and treat cancer. I know that you spend long hours in the lab conducting experiments in addition to doing personal research at home. Your knowledge of science and medicine are essential to helping find a cure for cancer. Thank you so much for dedicating your time to help others get better. I know that you could be spending time with your family or enjoying your personal hobbies instead, so I am forever thankful for all that you do and the sacrifices you make. Yeah maybe you haven’t found a cure yet, but you have definitely made progress. Without you, the number of deaths and new cases of cancer diagnosed each year would be twice as much. Thanks to you I still have my grandmother here with me today. Without the medicine and knowledge of cancer we have today, she would not be here. So, thank you for the work you have put into finding this cure. It is because of you that we know more about cancer than we ever have before. Remember that every day you spend in the lab allows you to become closer and closer to ending this disease once and for all. I am not writing this letter just to express my anger, but in hopes that you will see how many people are suffering and maybe try a little harder. This letter is for all of those who are no longer with us because they lost their battle to cancer. For those who are in the hospital and cancer treatment facilities right now waiting on you to save their life. It is for those that are living without their loved ones. So, while you are spending those countless hours in the lab doing experiments and research, remember these people who are waiting on you. Don’t take too long either, because the longer you take, the more lives that are lost to cancer. I know that you want to find a cure for cancer just as bad as I do, so let’s work together to end this terrible disease once and for all. We can’t give up on searching for the cure. There are too many lives depending on us. We shouldn’t stop working until every person is cured of this terrible disease. Let’s find the cure together. Best Wishes,
Maegan Bennett
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No one ever wants to talk about the big, bad “C” word. It’s like we think if we talk about it than we might get it. Can you guess this awful word? If not, don’t worry because I’m about to tell you. Cancer is a disease that effects a lot of people, but it’s not something that comes up in our everyday conversations. Instead, we choose to talk about the latest scandal or who’s going to win the next presidential election. Four years ago, I found out that my grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I really struggled with this news. I felt like I was alone and that no one knew what I was going through. After three weeks of living with this heart-breaking news, I found out that a girl on my soccer team was going through the same situation. We literally saw each other every day after school but had no clue that we were in a position to help each other. It would have been ten times easier to get through this situation if I could've had a friend experiencing the same feelings to talk to, but we had no clue because cancer is just something people do not talk about. This week, I came across a story about cancer that blew my mind. As I was reading it, I was reminded of all of the feelings I felt when I found out my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. I remembered not wanting anyone to ever feel the way I did in those moments, so I decided that I am going to encourage people to include the word cancer in their everyday conversations. To start it off, I decided to share this unbelievable story about Chrissy Turner. The StoryOn October 5, 2016, People Magazine released an article about a nine-year-old girl who was diagnosed with breast cancer. In this article, Cathy Free tells the story of Chrissy Turner’s battle with breast cancer in order to help women better understand their chances of having breast cancer. Free recommends that you should be aware of your body no matter what age you are. Free reminds us that Chrissy is the youngest person ever to be diagnosed with this disease at age of eight-years-old. Chrissy was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer that affects one in a million people. According to Free, Chrissy underwent a mastectomy last December and now has a breast scan every three months. Free quotes Chrissy’s mother saying that “Chrissy is recovering well and is back playing and enjoying life.” "Chrissy will be one of the keynote speakers at 'The Pink Frog Foundation’s' fifth annual gala in Atlanta, GA," states Free. Even though Chrissy is usually a shy and quiet girl, she is willing to step up and speak out to make sure that everyone is aware of their body regardless of age. Free includes Chrissy’s advice: “Life is good and far too short.” Free also emphasizes that if you ever find a lump, don’t wait; You should go to the doctor and have it looked at immediately. The ToolsIn this article, Cathy Free uses storytelling to stress the importance of being aware of your body. Jay Heinrichs, author of Thank You for Arguing, defines storytelling as the best way to change an audience’s mood (83). In this artifact, Cathy Free tells us the story about the youngest person ever to be diagnosed with breast cancer. This nine-year-old little girl, Chrissy, was diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer when she was only eight-years-old. She is now healthy and back to playing with her friends at school. Storytelling is like a Thanksgiving dinner. It is full of warmth and happiness, and it gives you a sense of comfort. All of the good food looks so good you can’t resist eating it, and you never leave the table wanting more. Free presents her story in the same way. She lays out all of the details and keeps our attention throughout the article. She uses specific words and phrases to play with her audience’s mood while telling the heart-warming story of a nine-year-old girl diagnosed with breast cancer. Cathy Free keeps her audience attentive by telling this story. “An attentive audience is willing to listen closely to what you have to say,” claims Heinrichs (57). In this article, Cathy Free holds on to her audience’s attention by explaining how Chrissy’s life has been affected by breast cancer, and the progress she has made throughout her journey. She tells us the ups and downs of her treatments and how she is doing at this moment Keeping an audience attentive is like giving a girl a puppy. She can play with it for hours and still not want to put it down. By keeping her audience’s attention for a long time, Cathy Free is able to make sure her audience is listening to what she has to say. Possessing your audience’s attention is great, but what comes next? Cathy Free decides to give her audience a desire to act. “The desire to act requires you to motivate your audience to do something or stop doing something,” states Heinrichs (25) Cathy Free hints towards the desire to act by showing her audience that breast cancer can affect anyone. Knowing that this innocent little girl was able to get cancer at such a young age allows us to realize that this terrible disease could also become a reality for us. This causes us to take action and become more aware of our own bodies. Giving your audience a desire to act is like bribing your sibling with a dozen of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in order to get them to do the dishes for you. It may not be something they necessarily want to do, but knowing that it will benefit them urges them to do it anyway. The benefit of getting the cookies outweighs the inconvenience of putting up the dishes. Free gives her audience a desire to act in order to persuade them to do what she wants. She is striving to get women to pay more attention to their bodies, even if it might take some time out of their day for them to do it. It will definitely be worth the reward. The FixThis article starts off really well. As soon as I opened it, I saw a big title that caught my attention. Although after reading the title, I felt like I knew the entire story. Just by reading the title I knew what the entire article was going to be about. Free gives away the main message within the title. I think that if Cathy Free uses Heinrichs method of unannounced emotion it will allow her audience to feel a little more sympathy and connection towards Chrissy. Even though the title gives off too much information, I think the author still does a great job of making herself seem logical and credible. As a college student, I am constantly reminded to use reliable sources when looking up information. Professors insist that we cite the information within our work, and seeing this done in Free’s article helped me know that her information is true. Free's use of links to other sites gives us further information on unknown topics. By providing these links it allows me to know that her sources are reliable and that she just didn’t make up this information. The links also allow me to get a better understanding of the topics discussed without having to do any research of my own. They offer me quick and easy access to more information. When targeting an audience of such a big age range one might find it difficult to find a way to include everyone, but in this article, Free effectively reaches women of all ages by telling the story of Chrissy’s battle with cancer. By telling the story she keeps my attention, which allows me to feel more involved in the story. The way she tells the story made it seem like I was there while all of this was taking place. In Thank You for Arguing, Heinrichs states that there are three main goals for persuading people:
Cathy Free does a great job of giving her audience a desire to act. It greatly increases the effectivity of this article for me. After reading it, I didn’t sit there wondering what to do next or what was the point in reading it. Instead, I immediately felt the need to go and check my own body. Have you ever finished reading something, then found yourself thinking why did I just read that? The reason for that is the author is writing without a purpose. Thankfully that is not the case for Free’s article. Throughout the entire article, she is writing to make sure we become more aware of our bodies. She is striving to get us to understand that being aware of our own body could possibly save our life. Free reminds us that if we ever find a lump, don’t wait. Go get it check out by a doctor immediately.
According to Journal of Women’s Health, self-detection is a key method of breast cancer detection. In 2003 the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted a survey that included 361 women survivors of breast cancer. They asked a simple question: “How was your breast cancer found?” The answers they received varied, but the results of the survey showed that majority of women survivors detected the breast cancer themselves. In 2008, Max Healthcare released an ad that encourages us to pay more attention to our breast. This ad clearly targets women but not only older women, it also includes younger women and teens like myself. Even though it is rare for younger girls to develop breast cancer, it is still important for us to use methods of early detection as well. One reason for us to practice self-breast exams is because younger girls diagnosed with breast cancer often have a more aggressive type of cancer, which leads to a lower chance of survival. This is why it is so important for us to do self-breast exams monthly, like suggested by the National Breast Cancer Foundation. After asking several students on campus: “Do you know how to perform a self-breast exam?”, it came to my attention that many of us do not know how to check ourselves. This is an alarming fact that could be changed just by teaching five simple steps. This ad about breast cancer stresses the importance of self-breast examinations, and how doing so can help lead to a higher chance of survival. The Max Healthcare ad about breast cancer does a great job of appealing to a women’s desire to act by giving them a choice. In Thank you for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs, the author says that arguments boil down to three things: blame, value, or choice. The choice offered in this ad would be to do self-breast examinations or not. According to the survey performed in 2003, many of us choose to do so. By giving the women a choice, it allows the them to make their own decision. Jay Heinrichs tells us that when are arguing about a choice we are using deliberative argument. Deliberative agreement promises a payoff. Even though the ad by Max Healthcare allows us to make our own choice about self-breast examinations, it still inputs their opinion at the same time by trying to persuade us to practice self-breast examinations. They use the power of a choice to solve the problem to both the audiences and their own advantage. This ad uses the advice of Heinrichs to persuade their audience with a choice, which according to him this is the best and most effective way. By providing statistics within the ad, it shows that women doing self-breast examination have a higher chance of survival than those who do not, which persuades us to participate in doing self-breast examinations. It also provides a number to call for more details, giving us the opportunity to do something right away. Women in the U.S. have a "1 in 8” (or about 12 percent) lifetime risk of getting breast cancer. This means that for every 8 women in the U.S. who live to be age 85, one will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. For that to be a fairly low percentage, it feels like breast cancer is becoming more common nowadays. I bet that the majority of you know someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. If you are one of those people then you know how heart breaking it is for someone to be told that they have breast cancer. Being diagnosed with cancer can completely turn your life around, but thankfully we have organizations like Susan G. Komen to help. The Susan G. Komen organization began in 1982, because of a promise made by the founder, Nancy G. Brinker, to her dying sister, Susan. She promised that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. When it started off all they had was $200 dollars and a shoebox full of potential donor’s names. Since then, Susan G. Komen has funded more than $889 million in research, more than $1.95 billion in medical care, community and provider education, and psychosocial support, serving millions in over 60 countries worldwide. Susan G. Komen is now the world’s largest nonprofit source of funding for fighting breast cancer. Survivor Kathryn Becker says, “I feel that it is through Komen’s commitment to research that I am still here today, that treatments are becoming more tolerable and that we now know that not all breast cancer cells are alike.” Many women, like Kathryn, are survivors of breast cancer because of the research Susan G. Komen provides. With the continuation on of their research more and more women are now able to say that they are survivors of breast cancer.
I chose to blog about this because it is something that really touches home with me. In 2004, my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 58 years old when she was diagnosed. Breast cancer is definitely not something that you expect to happen, so it took a hard turn on my family’s life. The doctors told us that she had stage two breast cancer and that they wanted to start treatment as soon as possible. It was a long process, but throughout her journey the Susan G. Komen organization was a huge help. They offered us great assistance and support the entire time. The support they offered to our family was unbelievable. They also provided us with a lot of resources to help us learn more about her diagnosis, so that we could understand what the doctors were telling us. Thanks to all of the help offered by the Susan G. Komen organization, not only my grandmother but also many other women are now survivors of breast cancer. The Susan G. Komen organization is widely known for its “Race for the Cure” 5K road race. This month this event will be taking place in Macon, GA at Mercer University. The race will be on Saturday, September 24, 2016 at 9 in the morning. You can sign up online or donate money to help reach the goal of $80,000.00. All ages and fitness levels are welcomed. You can make a difference as you run by helping raise money for the fight against breast cancer. Do your part in finding the cure for this life-threatening disease by signing up today! Let’s help run breast cancer out of town! |
AuthorI am a student at Georgia Southern University. I love the outdoors, and my favorite flower is a sunflower. Archives
November 2016
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