For Vincent van Gogh's Birthday

#vangogh #vangoghcartoon #artistexploitation

An Unspoken Secret

#grief  #traumaticgrief #selahcarefarm #life #heartache

Sunday Sketchbook

 

A quick sketch of the first cottontail kit of the spring season to visit my yard. A small reminder of the beauty and wonder as well as the precariousness and fragility of life.

Duty to Warn

More healthcare professionals need to be aware of the importance of communicating a genetic risk for cancer to all who may be at risk.

There are many hereditary cancers that are preventable or can be detected and successfully treated at early stages, but that comes only with communicating that information. It is hard for someone to be proactive if they are not aware of the threat.

Leaving communicating about any mutations and cancer risks just to family members often DOES NOT work out well. (Tragically, that's why I'm a widower.)

"Effective family communication about genetic information is complex and occurs at lower than optimal rates." *
(Read more about that quote and the study it came from at the link below.)

*https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470015902.a0024195

**Link to the Journal of Law and the Biosciences:
https://academic.oup.com/jlb/article/7/1/lsaa071/6029410?login=false

#dutytowarn #hereditarycancer #BRCA2 #genetictesting #HIPPA #cancerprevention #germlinemutations #geneticcounseling

A Quick Study of a Gila Woodpecker

A quick study of a Gila woodpecker in my desert yard.

Once upon a time, I was not a hereditary cancer advocate, I was a nature advocate, NPS volunteer artist, and an admirer of the magic and wonder of the natural world. My mantra was “Know nature. Learn to be still."

I was planning to retire from freelance illustrating -- and editors and art directors and agents and other gatekeepers-- and go on many nature adventures with my now late wife and just sketch nature for the sake of it. To just go out and paint “happy little trees” someplace in the wild.

My late wife’s hereditary cancer diagnosis changed everything. That's why I'm a hereditary cancer awareness and prevention advocate now.

I can still sketch nature, but something is missing.

Why Talking About Hereditary Cancer is so Hard

Being a hereditary cancer awareness and prevention advocate sure presents challenges.

#cancerchangedeverything #BRCA2 #TNBC #hereditarycancer

Flowering Lifesaver

Cancer is awful. Everything about it.

I cannot pretend to know the awfulness of being treated for cancer. But I do know the awfulness of being a cancer caregiver. Of the almost unbearable trauma of watching a loved one die of the awful disease. And of having an adult child that’s a previvor and having the shadow of cancer follow you everywhere.

That’s why I have chosen to share my talent and create coloring pages for the readers at Cure Today. It’s just a small gesture to maybe help give a momentary reprieve from the awfulness of cancer with the hope that it will heal.

Please share the link with anyone you know who has cancer and might need a creative break.

https://www.curetoday.com/view/flowering-lifesaver

#cancercommunity #cancersucks #cancerpatient #cancersupport #hereditarycancer #artforcancer #TNBC #previvor #hereditarycancer #1FORCECommunity

Hereditary Cancer Changed Everything

Almost two years ago my wife, soul mate, adventure companion, co-creator and muse died of hereditary cancer. It was preventable. Tragically, crucial genetic information was not shared by family members. That’s why I’m now a hereditary cancer awareness and prevention advocate and speaking up.

 

This week I became a volunteer at FORCE: Facing our Risk of Cancer Empowered.

 

#hereditarycancer #BRCA2 #genetictesting #cancerscreening #cancergraphic

Stepping Up Again on my Hereditary Cancer Soapbox

On February 6th, a hereditary cancer screening bill was introduced in the Arizona House of Representatives. HB 2783 attempts to address the need for better screening for hereditary cancers.

Here's a link to my article at Cure Today about getting the bill introduced.