Dear Principal,
We are Michele, Ricky, and Christine Mellick, and our mom was diagnosed with breast cancer just over ten years ago. She went through six months of chemotherapy, seven surgeries, and a rough couple of years. We are happy to say that she is now cancer free and healthier than ever. She was very lucky to find the cancer early with a self-exam. The survival rates for breast cancer that is found in the early stages are much greater than if it is found later. Our lives have been touched by breast cancer, and we are lucky to still have our mom who is irreplaceable.
The attention brought to the issue of breast cancer every October with pink ribbons, pink outs, and pink products is wonderful. Many of the pink products that are sold during the month donate proceeds to research to find a cure for this terrible disease, and we hope that someone finds a cure soon.
Until someone finds a cure, the best tool in this fight against breast cancer is early detection. We have put together a letter for students to give to their mom (or other important women in their lives) stating several reasons why she is irreplaceable. The letter goes on to ask her to take 15 minutes to do a self-exam and schedule her annual mammogram. During the month of October, our goal is to have as many students as possible deliver this letter to their mom letting her know how irreplaceable she is. The increased awareness and the funding of research are great, but if we can help someone’s mom take the time for a self-exam that could save her life, then we hope their family can be as lucky as ours has been.
We are asking for your school to please distribute this letter. Please ask the students to take a moment to write a personal note telling their moms why they are irreplaceable to them, and then give it to their moms. We have created a web site with links to pages that have step-by-step instructions on how to do a self-exam and other pages with valuable information. If we can send enough letters home, then we hope that the benefit of early detection will touch someone else’s life like it did ours.
Thank you,
Michele Mellick (Student at Duquesne University School of Law)
Ricky Mellick (Senior at Duquesne University)
Christine Mellick (Sophomore at Wheeling Jesuit University))