NEWSBYFRAN DRESCHER

Fran Drescher is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Fran is the President of the Cancer Schmancer Movement.

Hey dolls! It's a fabulous day and let me tell you why; June 21st marks my 10-year anniversary of wellness from uterine cancer and the third birthday of my organization, the Cancer Schmancer Movement! It took me two years and eight doctors before finally being told I had a gynecological cancer and my experience inspired me to write the bestseller, Cancer Schmancer.  In 2007, I founded the Cancer Schmancer Movement, dedicated to saving women's lives through early detection of cancer.

Early detection equals survival. It's really that simple. We are transforming women, the caregivers in almost every home, from patients into informed medical consumers; educating them on the importance and methods of early detection; and shifting this nation's priority from just looking for a cure to prevention and early detection.

But as the economy weakens and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings. Now more than ever, we must galvanize and be the force that advocates for early detection and availability of screening tests. Cancer Schmancer has launched its Early Detection Fran Van program, a partnership with existing cancer screening services to make available free cancer screening tests to uninsured and under-uninsured women. We have proudly partnered with Inner Images, Inc. to provide women in California who have limited access, with life-saving cancer screening tests and will bring our services and message city by city, state by state. Together, through empowerment, education and screening tests, we will ensure that women with cancer are diagnosed in the earliest stages, when it is most curable.

Fran Drescher is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Fran is the President of the Cancer Schmancer Movement.

2010 is our year, my friends. And let me tell ya why.

You may or may not know it, but I am a cancer survivor. Little did I know when I was first experiencing symptoms that I was about to embark on a two-year, eight-doctor odyssey before getting a proper diagnosis of uterine cancer. I mean, I got in the stirrups more times than Roy Rogers! At first, my doctors had a number of explanations for the symptoms I was experiencing: I was “too thin,” “eating too much spinach,” “had restless leg syndrome” -- you name it.

For two years, I was given hormone replacement therapy for a peri-menopausal condition I did not have, and my doctors failed to order the right diagnostic tests because they neglected to see obvious signs. Me, I was just happy to be “too young” for anything that I didn’t even think to ask “why” or “why not.” Finally, an endometrial biopsy confirmed my worst fear: I had uterine cancer.

Well, I learned to turn lemons into lemonade and here I am today, focusing on improving cancer healthcare for women. This June, I’ll be celebrating my 10th year of wellness and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in the last decade regarding cancer. But we’re not where we should be yet.

Fran Drescher is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Change.org asked Ms. Drescher to respond to questions to provide context for her work and the causes she supports.

Change.org: What cause or causes would you most like to promote as a Changemaker and why?

Cancer Schmancer, of course! Ya know, many researchers and billions of dollars are dedicated to finding a cure for cancer, and boy, I sure hope they find it. But we have the power to save lives today by arming every woman with the information she needs to prevent cancer and detect it early, when it’s most curable. With knowledge and the screening tools available, many cancers can be diagnosed earlier than they often are, which can lead to better patient outcomes and greater cancer survival rates. Who doesn’t want that? We need to work together to do so.

Change.org: If you could ask 1 million people to all do 1 thing to advance causes that matter to you, what would it be?

Become a medical consumer! By that I mean become better partners with your doctors, ask questions and play an active role in your own healthcare. And tell everyone you love to do the same!

Change.org: Tell us a bit about your personal story and how did you come to care so much about this issue?

It took me two years and eight doctors to get a proper diagnosis for the symptoms I was experiencing, which turned out to be uterine cancer.

I felt betrayed by not only by my own body, but the medical community. In 2002, I wrote Cancer Schmancer, to tell my story of survival so what happened to me wouldn’t happen to others. After I went on my book tour, I realized that what happened to me had happened to so many women like me. And so it was then I realized the book was the beginning of a new life’s mission to improve women's healthcare in America. I started Cancer Schmancer as a movement to educate women and to shift this nation's priority from just searching for a cancer cure towards prevention and early detection of cancer.

Change.org: What are the greatest obstacles to change on your issue?

I feel the problem is two-fold. Women worldwide need to take control of their bodies and leave behind the Victorian notion that “if you can grin and bear it, do so, because your family comes first.” Women need to put their own health first because they are no good to the ones they love if they are six feet under.

The other side of the fold is the health care system. Do you know the saying “If you hear hooves galloping, don’t look for zebra because it’s probably a horse?” Well that’s the philosophy most doctors subscribe to. Often the medical community is bludgeoned by big business health insurance companies to go the least expensive route of diagnostic testing, so the tests you need may not even be on the menu at the doctor’s office. As educated medical consumers, we must research and know the tests that are available and request them from our physicians. We must insist that the diagnostic tools and cancer screening tests we women need become part of our basic healthcare plan, especially now when our nation is facing cut backs on screening tests. We’re headed in the wrong direction and we need to put our focus on finding out what’s causing cancer and how we can detect cancer early. After all, Stage 1 is the cure!

Photo credit: KaiChanVong