A Life, Lived

A Mo Update

It's a sad day, this final day of Movember. For the past 30 days my team of bros and sistas have been working hard - coaxing those upper lips to sprout hair has been a challenge. Dealing with how gray said hair appeared was even more of a challenge.

It's been a lot of fun though. We had close to 100 bros and sistas on the team and we raised a respectable $17,500 for prostate cancer research and education programs.

Here in Canada 245,000 bros and sistas have raised a record $34,000,000! The global total is approaching $ 100,000,000.

Movember also has a focus on men's health. Studies show that men tend to ignore their health until a crisis takes place.  I am one of those men - although I haven't had a crisis . . . yet.  Movember forced me to go to the doctor and have a pyhsical - only to discover that my doctor had purged me from his list since I hadn't been for 20 years. OUCH

I managed to find a new doctor located a 10 minute walk from the house. I took today off of work for my initial consultation - the physical is in January.

Funny thing though - walking home from the doctor's office a car skidded on the wet roads and almost ran right into me as I crossed the street - proving what I have long suspected - going to the doctor would have a detrimental impact on my health!!!!!

I should post a final mopic. My colleague Pat is a wonderful photographer. We made her the honoray MoPhotographer of Team ETFO. She took these great shots for the rogues gallery . . .

hmmmm - time for a shave!!!

Another Pesky Mo Update

Hello . . . this is my mo!

I can't believe I haven't had one of these things forever!

I was asked this morning how Team ETFO is doing . . .

Well, we continue to grow our Mos.

Many of us are shocked at how grey those Mos are. I suspect we’ll need some Mo hair dye before long.

They say that the Mo chooses the bro and not the other way around. Apparently My Mo has decided it wants to be a ‘Flanders’ (fans of the Simpsons know of what I refer). SIGH

The team has grown as well with more people joining. Right now there are 93 MoBros and MoSistas on team ETFO.

Team ETFO has raised $ 9,400 over the first week. I have raised $ 575.

This week I had one of my programs - the ETFO Union School. At the Union School we ran the famous Union School 50/50 draws (which a colleague won BOTHdays . . . although we made her throw her ticket out the second time). The Union School participants donated $ 175 to team ETFO!

People have asked how they can donate to the team. You can donate online to the team here: http://mobro.co/jdeqbut click on ‘donate to team’  . . . unless of course you just want to donate to ME then you can click on 'donate to me'.

 Here's a cool google crome video showing what this is all about . . .

A Mo Update . . .

Yup - it's there. No longer do folks think I've forgotten to shave today. Unfortunately it's gray, gray, gray! My colleagues have suggested that I need to dye it - even provided tips as to how to do it properly. Not sure what to do with all of that . . .

Now the challenge is how to shape it - what sort of a Mo do I want? I've pretty well passed on the 'trucker'.

Today at the Union School we ran a 50/50 draw  and we raised over $ 100 for Team ETFO - how cool is that?

A Mo Update

(yes, the earth stopped turning on its axis for a second there - jerry posted a pic . . . GASP)

So here it is day 3 of Movember - the month long fundraising effort for Prostate Cancer - my Mo was noticed today. It was NOT noticed positively, mind you, but noticed it was.

Day three has been tough. I'm a shy sort of fellow . . . really . . . so I don't love all of the attention my upper lip is getting. Nor do I love the way it itches like heck.

I have noticed that my mo has a mind of its own. They say that the Mo chooses the Bro and not the other way around. I am fearful that I will end up with what is known as a 'trucker' instead of something sophisticated that doesn't look like an escapee from a 70's Smokey and the Bandit flick.

I have noticed that my Mo is gray! ARGH I don't want a gray Mo at all.

On a happier note, more than 160,000 Canadian MoBros and MoSistas have raised $5,700,00 in the first three days of the campaign. That is pretty awesome.

Movember's primary campaign objective is to raise awareness of men's health issues, specifically cancers affecting men. Everyone should remember that most cancers are highly curable if caught in the early stages - including prostate and testicular cancer. Movember aims to increase early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment, as this will ultimately reduce the number of deaths from cancer. It’s time men face the startling health facts.

The Stats

There are 177,800 new cases of cancer and 75,000 cancer deaths expected in Canada in 2011.

The average life expectancy for men is five years less than women (presently 78 years old compared to 83).

In 2011 there will be more cases of prostate cancer diagnosed than breast cancer.

After prostate cancer, lung is the most common cancer in Canada.

5% more men will develop cancer during their lifetimes in Canada than women.

Incident rates of cancer are highest in the Maritime provinces and Quebec.

After cancer the leading cause of death in men is heart disease.

Approximately 93,000 Canadian men will be diagnosed with cancer, and an estimated 39,900 men will die of cancer.

On average, 11 Canadian men will die of prostate cancer every day.

Testicular Cancer is the most common cancer in young men in Canada between the ages of 15-29.

Among Canadians of all ages 4 out of every 5 suicides are male.

Chilling stats indeed.

So how is the team doing? Team ETFO now has 84 members which is a respectable number. We've raise $ 6500 which is OK. We can do better. I invite you to support me or my team at http://mobro.co/jdeq.

Grow Mo, grow!