Calm After the Storm

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes from fellow breast cancer warrior, Elizabeth Edwards. Life is full of storms. From hurricanes all the way down to the small rain shower, we have all found ourselves in the midst of something that threatens the safety, security, and foundation we have built our lives on. Going through life, we all have a basic outline as to how we want our lives to play out. Sometimes these storms come out of nowhere and into our lives, like a thunderstorm in the summer.

Breast cancer was a full-blown, unwelcomed monsoon that came into my life with no warning. All of the sudden I found myself standing in the middle of this storm, wondering which way I should go. How do I get out of this storm? Where can I take cover? I couldn’t run. I had to face it head on and ride it out, doing whatever I had to do to keep myself safe and protected. I did what I had to do to save my life – surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and more surgery. Those were all part of the storm, waves that I had to swim through to get to the other side.

Now that I am through my “storm of the decade,” I have perspective on what I went through. I adjusted my sails in the storm and chose a new route. This new route I am on is so much more fulfilling. It’s full of love, selflessness, and compassion. One of the best things to come from this storm, has been the ability to work for The Ellie Fund. The Ellie Fund was my umbrella through my storm, keeping me dry and protected. I have now made a life of doing as much good in the world as I can. It feels good. I love the new route I am on and wouldn’t trade it for anything right now.

This week marks the 5th anniversary of my very last radiation treatment which wrapped up the active treatment phase of my cancer journey. The two pictures below were taken exactly 5 years apart...one from that summer 5 years ago and one from this summer.



Here we are in August 2007:
Collin is so little at just 8 months old and Jeffrey is 3.

And here we are in August 2012:
Collin is 5 1/2 and Jeffrey is 8.





 To everyone who's helped us get to this point: Thanks and Cheers to the next five years!

Anne Meisner (anne@elliefund.org)

Movin' On Up

Ok, it’s actually just across the hall, but still! We are excited! The past month has been a month of physical growth for The Ellie Fund. Not only did we add another Patient Services and Database Coordinator but we also moved our office! The address remains the same but this office is nothing like our old one. For starters it is HUGE (better yet, our old office was tiny)! We basically doubled our square footage from the previous one and added separate work spaces for each of us. All of us now have privacy and s-p-a-c-e to do our work.

We are still putting the finishing touches on each space but here is a sneak peek at what one of the spaces looked like

before

and after!

 

Now we can focus on our mission to help and support women and their families during breast cancer threatment!

Time to Blog!

Welcome to our BLOG! We know what you’re thinking: It’s about TIME the Ellie Fund had a blog! Well, yes, it IS about time. We’ve been busier than ever lately. Over the past two weeks we added a new colleague and moved our office. And now that we’re (almost) done with that, we have time: To be more efficient, thanks to the new phone system. To hear ourselves think, thanks to the divided workspaces. (Previously, five of us shared 500 square feet.) To help more breast cancer patients and families than ever before, thanks to our new staff member. And yes, finally…time to blog. 

Say Hello to AnneAnne Meisner, from Natick, MA, is our new Patient Services & Database Coordinator. You’ve seen this photo of her on our website from when she was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago. Anne will be working with Director of Patient Services Gail Fine taking care of patient needs, and creating, maintaining and nurturing our new database.

Anne is no stranger to the Ellie Fund. She was one of the first patients I worked with when I started our current program, was the first speaker at our inaugural Kelley for Ellie fashion show, has been a dedicated event volunteer, Board Member, and great friend. She’s also a strong supporter of First Descents and Sharsheret. We’re thrilled to have her on Team Ellie! You can reach her at anne@elliefund.org.