Breathless to Breathe Life

Let's be honest, sometimes life can throw us a curve ball (or two, or three...), yet I am always reminded of the words of Hunter S. Thompson, "Life goes on. Hopes rise, and dreams flicker and die. Love plans for tomorrow, and loneliness thinks of yesterday. Life is beautiful, and living is pain."

With that spirit of hope in mind, I happily surprised to see OPI's full-page advertisement in the recent issue of In Style, announcing OPI's BreatheLife campaign. As the first corporate sponsor of the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA), OPI released its "Breathe Life" nail polish, which is appropriately the color of fresh air, a light silvery blue. The polish was created exclusively to benefit the LCFA and hit stores back on April 1. In addition, OPI also made a generous donation to the foundation for the purposes of early detection, diagnosis, and--most importantly--finding a cure for lung cancer.

The reason for OPI's interest in the cause? As it turns out, Suzi Fischmann, the co-founder of OPI, attended an LCFA fundraiser last year and was moved by the stories of lung cancer survivors, families, and researchers. The BreatheLife Campaign was thus born, reminding us that "lung cancer has stopped our breathing long enough" and that now is the time to fight.

The facts will indeed take your breath away:

• Every 2 1/2 minutes someone in the United States is diagnosed with lung cancer and every 3 minutes someone in the United States will die from lung cancer.


• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States accounting for 15% of all cancer incidence and 29% of all cancer deaths.


• In 2008 Lung Cancer will claim more lives than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney and melanoma cancers - COMBINED.


• There is currently no approved screening for early detection of lung cancer.


• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Defense earmarked no money for lung cancer research in 2007.
  

Don't worry, you can help too! The LCFA website suggests creative ways to raise awareness of lung cancer and to support their efforts to find a cure. My absolute favorite is the concept of a "lemonade" stand, serving Breathe Life mani/pedis instead of lemonade (or in addition to!), and the price would serve as a donation to the LCFA. Pardon the pun, but this really puts the FUN in FUNdraiser! The cherry on top is that the LCFA will provide you with everything you need--except the stand (but isn't that's what you have those crafty boyfriend/husbands for?).

Like many of you, I feel personally connected to this cause, and I encourage you to join the fight for the cure--and to never, never give up hope. Also, please stay tuned for word on my lemonade 'n nail-painting party! It will be an event to remember and will leave you breathless to breathe life too.





Psst: For more information on lung cancer--including research, diagnosis, treatment, donations, advocacy, and the fight for the cure--please visit the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA), online at http://www.lcfamerica.org/.





Breath Life nailpolish by OPI, from the BreathLife campaign, online at http://www.opi.com/.