Upcoming Cervivor Schools

In September, I attended Cervivor School West in San Diego (I blogged about it here and here). To be completely honest, in the days leading up to my departure, I totally wanted to back out. I have general and social anxiety, so this experience was going to throw me completely out of my comfort zone (My comfort zone consists of my bedroom. And occasionally my living room). I was going to have to fly by myself! Meet new people! Talk to those new people! But in the end, I went, because I really did want to go, and also my husband would probably have fed me into a wood chipper if I lost the cost of the flight. I'm not going to rehash the event, because I already wrote two blog posts about it, but I do want to say two things about Cervivor School West specifically:

1. I wish I had been more open and outgoing while I was there. These women made me feel safe from the very start (hi Lori!), but I still kept some of myself back.
2. Thanks to Facebook, I have been able to become closer to my Cervivor Sisters that I met in CA. It's bittersweet - yes, it is great to have their love and support on a daily basis, but it sucks that we're spread all over the country.

The good news is that Cervivor School happens all over the world, and there is no limitation on the number of times you can attend! There are two Cervivor Schools happening in January, and I'm attending one of them! The first is Hoosier Cervivor School, being held January 16 in Indianapolis, IN (for details, click here). Next is Cervivor School South, happening in Charleston, SC January 28 - 31 (for details, click here). I'm headed to Charleston! I would be thrilled to be attending either Cervivor School, because there are fabulous women that I met at Cervivor School West at both. Cervivor's founder, Tamika Felder, will of course be at both sessions (this woman is on the go advocating for cervical cancer detection, awareness, and prevention 24/7, everywhere. Forget Carmen Sandiego, it should legitimately be Where In The World Is Tamika Felder?). Indianapolis is being hosted by Erica, Heather, and Melissa. You can read each of their stories here on Cervivor's website, including Erica's husband JR's story about being a caregiver. Charleston is being hosted by Marie, whose story you can read here. I cannot say enough good things about these women.

So who should attend Cervivor School? Anyone whose life has been affected by HPV or cervical cancer. This means women who are HPV positive, women with pre-cancer, women who are in remission, and women who are still fighting this horrible disease. Caregivers are also welcome to attend, although there may be certain sections that will be for patients only. Cancer is not a solitary disease. When a woman has cervical cancer, so does her husband, her children, her parents, her siblings, her friends. Cervivor School helps to show that we are all in this together, that there is support available.

If you are interested, visit Cervivor's website (cervivor.org) to learn more about Cervivor, Cervivor School, becoming a Cervivor Ambassador, and even do some shopping.