As you may or may not know, cancer is not the only thing that is close to my heart. My oldest daughter was severely burned when she was a baby and we spent years in and out of the hospital with her burn care. As I researched the Cancer project, I found that there are a lot of similar projects already out there, and not a lot of funding available. As I sat there researching grants and such, a friend of mine mentioned the fact that Cancer was not the only thing that had touched our lives. The more I though about it, the more I realized, that while Cancer had touched several people in my family, the burns I was intimately familiar with. I was the one who went through each and every one of Samantha's 40+ surgeries with her. I did all of her dressing changes and handled all of her at home burn care. I sat down and talked with Samantha about the possibility of doing a Burn Survivor project instead. She was very interested and said that she thought it would be a great project. I did some fact finding and e-mailed some of the people I know from the different hospitals we have been to and also some of the foundations that we are associated with. The general consensus is that it would be a worthwhile project not only for the burn survivors, but also for the family and friends of the survivors. So I have gotten in contact with a burn society to see what direction I should go from here. I was excited about The Face of Cancer, but I cannot pass up an opportunity to work hand-in-hand with my amazing daughter on a project of this scope. So stay tuned and I will keep you updated on how this progresses.

Just an update on the project. I researched a bunch of grants this weekend. I found a few that would apply, but not many. This type of project, I think, is going to be difficult to get funded. I am going to have to find a few creative ways to get it done, I can tell. That's okay, though. This is very close to my heart and if I want it to happen, I am just going to have to find a way to make that happen. I am still looking for approximately 25 people who are interested in being a part of "The Face of Cancer" project and sharing their cancer story with me. If you are, you need to understand what will be involved. I am going to be following you around for 1-2 days, taking pictures (tastefully, of course) and learning more about you and your cancer experience. I am also going to need to need you to write your cancer story, in your own words, for inclusion in the book. If this is something you, or someone you know, might be interested in, please contact me via the contact page here on my website, or on facebook. Either way will work.