Some Guys Are Normal

Helping Out a Friend

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine has been through an extraordinary year fighting cancer and undergoing numerous surgeries to reconstruct her face (doctors had to remove many of the bones in her face to remove the cancer). All the while she has continued to work and try to live as much of a normal life as possible.

Her employer is now launching a campaign to reward her for her amazing courage and determination, and I wanted to pass the word along here as well.

The deal is that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is holding a contest to name a travel agent as the Godmother of one of their new ships. This is a very prestigious honor, and the winner will receive free cruises for life, among other things.

The nomination page is here. After you read her story, please click on the link and write a few words and nominate my friend. She really is an amazing person (And just in case you were wondering, this is definitely not an email hoax, I am actually personally friends with Jennifer).


Here's the email from her employer:

In September of 2005, Jennifer, found a large lump in her upper jaw while brushing her teeth. After being told by several doctors that the tumor was benign, she was surprised to learn from the last physician she visited that it was, in fact, cancer--a rare and aggressive type known as Osteosarcoma.

Because the tumor had grown through her lower jaw bone and into her sinus cavity, surgery was required to remove the tumor and later to reconstruct her face. The procedures were so complex and challenging that the heads of three separate departments at MD Anderson Cancer Center elected to get involved in the operation. In the first surgery, the tumor was removed along with part of her jawbone, sinus and eye socket. During this 14-hour surgery, doctors used bone from her leg and a rib to reconstruct her jawbone, cheek and eye socket. They also removed veins from her neck to supply blood to the new bones in her face and took skin from her leg to graft onto her face.

Jennifer was fortunate to have access to the top surgeons in the country and I am glad to say that this surgery and the others that followed went very well. A few surgeries remain, and when the reconstruction process is complete, Jennifer will have had eight separate surgeries.

But it’s not the misfortune of getting cancer at age 27 and or suffering through a series of painful and dangerous surgeries that makes Jennifer a great candidate for Godmother of the Liberty of the Seas. Rather it is how she chose to react to these incredibly trying events. Jennifer maintained a positive attitude in the face of huge emotional and physical challenges. She remained dedicated to her cruise clients by continuing to sell and service them between chemotherapy sessions and after recovering from each successive surgery. And finally, she has volunteered at Camp Cliff, a camp for families battling cancer, to share her success story with the families and offer hope and inspiration where it is so desperately needed.

To nominate Jennifer for the Godmother of the Liberty of the Seas, click this link:

www.cruisingpower.com/libertygodmother and click the Yes I’d Like To Honor An Extraordinary Women banner to tell Royal Caribbean why Jennifer should be nominated. All nominations must be submitted by 4:00pm (CST) this Saturday, December 9, so please hurry.

Please forward this email to anyone you feel would want to nominate Jennifer.

You will need the following information to submit a nomination:

Name: Jennifer
Agency: XXX
Agency phone: XXX
Agency address: XXX

Career: Jennifer has been a travel agent for 3 years

Thanks for your support!

posted by Brady @ 2:20 PM