My hero, Mercedes

A true survivor's perspective on the suggested new guidelines for mammograms and self-exams

Earlier this week, I Tweeted a response to the guidelines for breast cancer screening issued by a federal task force that contradict what women have been told in recent years. It links to the LIVESTRONG page on facebook.

RT @LIVESTRONG: LIVESTRONG's official response to the new guidelines for breast cancer screening. http://bit.ly/1x2tPw

I'm sharing my sister's response below, to illustrate how absurd these "recommendations" truly are. Mercedes speaks from her personal experience with breast cancer. She is living proof that self-exams and mammograms are essential for women of all ages.

My sister's story will tell you exactly why this is so important. Here's what Mercedes wrote:

The next time your male doctor tells you not to worry about a lump or calcification in your mammogram test results, ask him what he would do if he found the same thing in his scrotum.

Don't be shy . . . he's familiar with the word and he might just take your results a bit more seriously.

My doctor told me not to worry for three years. I had to demand another mammogram with ultrasound because at that point my breast was hot, swollen and the nipple was starting to invert. The lump that I had followed had progressed to grape size yet HE couldn't feel it! So much for letting doctors examine you.

After a modified radical mastectomy, chemo, bone marrow and stem cell transplant and radiation, I am still on the planet and have been cancer-free since 1994. The Adriamycin left me with cardiomyopathy and I have lymphedema in my arm but I am still here and glad to be!

If they had removed the lump initially it would have been contained in the milk duct and I wouldn't have had to go through all the other medical procedures.

Keep doing your self exams! Mammograms are only 80 percent effective. Imagine what the world would be like if the BEST birth control was only 80 percent effective!!!!!!!!

I really can't add any more to that, except to say that my sister Mercedes Cosgrove is my personal hero. She fought a great battle against terrible odds and is a real Survivor.

So please, ladies, don't take any chances with your health. Take the responsibility to keep doing your self-exams and insist on regular mammograms. And gents, please do regular breast and testicular exams, too. It could be a matter of life and death.

I love you, sis. Thanks for fighting so very hard. I'm glad you're still here.

--Dino

Today is World Alzheimer's Day

For the past six weeks a colleague from the company I work for (Edelman) has spent much of his spare time leading a pro bono team that is helping to launch an amazingly unique Twitter movement in support of Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s called “A Million Tweets to Remember” (www.1mtweets.com) and it kicks off today – World Alzheimer’s Day.

Whether you’re on Twitter or not, there’s a lot you can do to lend a hand.

The goal of 1MTweets is to digitally memorialize 1 million people who have lived with Alzheimer’s by having their loved ones tweet about them. Alzheimer’s robs people of their memories, and this movement is a powerful and poetic way to ensure we remember those who can no longer remember for themselves. Everyone who tweets is also asked to donate a minimum of $1 to Alzheimer’s research.

If we can quickly build momentum and get people to visit www.1MTweets.com today, there’s no reason this can’t be one of the fastest growing social movements in history. Seth Godin was blogging the other day that there are no non-profit causes represented among the top 100 Twitter accounts (by followers). Let’s change that.

What can you do to help? Any one of these things can make a huge difference:

What can you do to help? Any one of these things can make a huge difference:

1. Tell as many people as you can about this movement and urge them to visit www.1mtweets.com today.

2. Are you on Twitter?

a. Go to www.1mtweets.com and memorialize a loved one with a tweet.

b. Recommend www.1mtweets.com to your followers.

c. Follow @1Mtweets on Twitter.

d. Create a Twitter Tribute (or Twibute) to a loved one at: www.1mtweets.com/make_a_twibute.

3. Become a fan of 1MTweets on Facebook, post about 1MTweets to your FB friends and invite people to the FB 1MTweets event.

4. Kick it out to your contacts on LinkedIn.

5. Blog about 1Mtweets and link to its social media content.

6. Check out all the 1MTweets videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/1mtweets.

7. Create and post a YouTube video yourself.

8. If you know celebrities and community or thought leaders who have a connection to this disease, or who are up for a worthwhile cause, (especially those already on Twitter) please contact them about this. High profile tweeters will help us create media interest.

I hope you’ll join the quest to reach 1 million tweets and raise a significant amount of awareness and money for Alzheimer’s research.

Special thanks to my colleague Shane Dolgin, Toronto, who supplied most of the content of this post.

"Equivocation" tops OSF season

"Equivocation" is unequivocally the absolute best play I have ever seen.

This world premier production, ably staged by OSF artistic director Bill Rauch, is in repertory now at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore. It will move to Seattle Rep after the OSF season ends in November. Don't miss it.

Playwright Bill Cain has created an incredible script, revolving around William Shagspeare and the King's Men of the Globe Theatre: "We're a cooperative venture."

In London, 1605, the bard and his band are trying their best to make a living while not dying -- neither onstage nor at the hand of His Royal Majesty's prime minister, Lord Robert Cecil. You see, the young King James I has written a play that Cecil commands Shag to "dialogue" and present to his majesty. Oh, yes, the play must also have witches--the King loves witches. This is a dangerous assignment, if either the King or Lord Cecil are displeased with the play, Shag and his fellow thespians will pay a heavy price.

Problem is, Shag's gift is for writing about history and the King's story is about current events, namely the failed Gunpowder Plot. And there are, ahem, problems with the King's story, not the least of which is the Gunpowder Plot is likely a convenient lie for which many of the "old religion" (Catholics) will die. It's the politics of the time and a truly precarious place for a playwright to take a stand.

Shag gets Lord Cecil's permission to visit two of the condemned in prison--young noble Thomas Wintour and Father Henry Garnet, a leading Jesuit--in order to get the play's story straight. As several scenes unfold, the audience learns two important lessons: what it is to be truly human and "How to speak the truth in difficult times," through the art of equivocation.

Superb actors Anthony Heald, Richard Elmore, Jonathan Haugen, John Tufts and Anthony Linington are at the core of this outstanding production. And as a corps, they illuminate more than 20 characters in a seamless array of scenes through absolutely stunning performances. Christine Albright's touching portrayal of Shag's daughter, Judith, deeply moved me: "I'm the same as my brother." Who in the audience did not weep at this moment?

Cain's scriptwriting is so perfect it's no surprise the audience laughs, weeps, wonders and is shaken to the core of their humanity by this play. Just as Cain, speaking through Shag, intends:

"I live for the day when an actor can walk on stage, stand stock still and have the audience applaud in sheer wonder that--in spite of plague, politics and the foolishness of this age--this thing has managed to stay alive."

As an actor, I couldn't wait to read the script after arriving back home. And so I understand how Cain's magnificent story lends itself to being so beautifully interpreted by director Bill Rauch and the OSF ensemble. "Equivocation" is a perfect piece of writing, just waiting for fine actors to breathe life into its many characters.

Word on the street in Ashland is that "Equivocation" will be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It can't help but win. It is, after all, the play of my lifetime.

Will the real LeVar Burton please stand up?

LeVar Burton--or Geordi La Forge to STTNG fans--is a wise man.

LeVar has a new blog, and it starts out with a great post. You can read it here.

He begins with how he was compelled to join the online Community at Twitter because someone stole his identity. But instead of just getting mad, LeVar got involved. His blog tells the story, so I won't go into the details here. Except to say that LeVar believes--as do I--about the importance of Community.

Whether your Community, or Tribe, is online or in your physical neighborhood, we all have a tremendous opportunity now to be the leading force of positive change. The difference is that in the U.S. today, instead of leadership being forced from the top down, our new President is calling on everyday Americans to drive change. We all are being asked to shape our world from the grassroots up.

This is a very good thing. It's how our county was built: out of the cauldron of discontent, common people forged a new nation. Before you think I'm getting a bit to patriotic or hyperbolic, just think of how our culture has made positive changes that benefit all. The best of that change has come from the grassroots up.

Now the real "Next Generation" is poised to lead a new positive force of change. As an aging baby boomer who witnessed and participated in common America's fight for civil rights, peace and love, woman's rights and more, I’m thrilled to see how our new social media--Twitter, blogs, FB, you name it--are driving conversation, positive thought and community action.

When you can reach your President through his Blackberry, you know the world has changed in a fundamental way.

Keep engaged, keep interested and keep connected; then Do Something Positive about what you care about.

That’s my mantra, too, Le Var. Welcome to the blogosphere.

My digital cultural evangalist is moving on to better things

Wow, I really have some strong mixed emotions about an e-mail I got earlier today at work.

First, was the “OH NO!” reaction. I’m truly saddened that Leah Jones, Edelman's digital culture evangelist, is leaving the company. Since we met at Edelman's 2008 Summer School in Chicago, where I drank the Kool-Aid of digital culture and communications that she so expertly mixed, I have learned something from Leah nearly every day as I plunged more deeply into the digital world. I will truly miss Leah's energy, wisdom and evangelical zeal for advancing digital culture.

On the flip side came a “Good for you!” endorphin hit. I’m very excited to know that Leah will continue to influence the growth of digital culture worldwide while working toward her dream of moving to Israel. What a great and perfect opportunity for her!

I will continue to follow @leahjones through Twitter, and on FaceBook and her blog site—so she's not rid of me yet by any means. Fair warning, Leah!

I wish you continued success in your new endeavors, my digital friend.

Fond regards, congratulations, and good luck!

Ed Schoaps

A close call with equine colic

Last night was scary.

My wife, Susan, got home from the Jonquil Hills Stables in south Salem around suppertime after tending to her Thoroughbred horse, Fiero.

No sooner had Susan changed her clothes then the stable owners called with alarming news. Fiero was "colicking" and if you know anything at all about horses, that brings on panic mode in the owner. She left for the stables in a rush, tears streaming.

Not knowing much about it, I Googled "horse colic" to learn more. I learned that equine colic is the number one cause of premature death of horses. Colic can range from gas (serious but readily treatable) to a ruptured stomach or twisted or intestine. Horses can't really vomit or belch, so gas buildup can cause a lot of pain and discomfort. Serious gas can rupture a horse's stomach. When a horse has colic, it often rolls -- sometimes violently -- in an effort to ease the pain. This rolling can lead to a twisted or ruptured intestine, with serious complications. If surgery is called for, horses that survive are lucky; most either die from the surgery or don't live beyond four or five months after. Sobering news.

When Susan arrived at Jonquil Hill Stables, owners Heather and Jeff told her that Fiero had been rolling and screaming in pain--the worst case of colic they had ever seen. Heather managed to get Fiero to stand and walk, with considerable effort on her part.

The vet was called while Susan continued to walk Fiero in the arena and keep him calm. This seemed to help and Fiero was in less pain.

When "Dr. Mike" arrived from Silverton (about 45 minutes away from the stables), he examined the horse and diagnosed "simple colic," or basically stomach gas, and gave him an injection to ease the pain. In awhile, Fiero's symptoms abated and his appetite returned, but he could have no feed for the rest of the night and Susan had to stay with him until he moved his bowels, indicating a return to normal GI function.

After all seemed well, Susan returned home about 9:30 p.m., grabbed a bite to eat and zipped back to the stable around 11 p.m. to double-check on Fiero's condition.

A quick trip to the stable this morning by Susan found Fiero behaving normally. So all seems well.

A close call for sure, but everyone is very relieved that all turned out well.

Thank You Heather and Jeff Kline of Jonquil Hills Stables. Without your quick action, I would be writing a very different story.

And Thank You Michael A. Stewart, DMV of Silver Creek Animal Clinic, for providing fine emergency care.

On your mark, get set, blog!

I suppose that every blogger starts their first post something like this:

"Hi, Ed here. Welcome to my blog!"

OK, now that that's out of the way, you should know that The Online Experiment is my way of sharing with you what interests me, what upsets me, what stops me short because of its beauty or weirdness, but most of all what keeps me going.

In daily life, I'm a PR and media relations professional.

I'm also an actor, director, scuba diver, traveler, reader, writer, music lover, technophile, sybaritic epicurean and hedonist.

Most of all, I consider myself very Lucky to have a loving wife, two adorable kids and wonderful, interesting and loyal friends.

So you'll find me writing about all these things, at least.

Oh, yeah, I'll probably post some stuff that may not grab your attention in any way at all. In that case, please check back again or better still, send me note with your suggestions. I'll do my best to keep things interesting.

Feedback helps and I encourage you to leave your comments. It helps to know you're out there, kind Reader, and that you have an opinion about what you see here and are willing to share it.

One last thing before you go: here's where you can find me on Twitter, FaceBook, Google and LinkedIn.

Thanks for stopping by.

Ed Schoaps