Because it's my personal story. On May 15, 2004, three weeks before I
     was about to get married for the first time at 43 to the wonderful Silvano Marchetto, owner of Da Silvana restaurant. I was diagonsed with breast cancer.

             A bad situation was made even worse when I realized I had let my
                 insurance lapse. As a freelance cartoonist it is extremely difficult not
                 only to get, but to keep your insuarance.
                (FACT: 47 million people in the country don't have health insurance.)

                    Well, Silvano and I did get married. (I had bandages from the
                  lumpectomy underneath my wedding dress.) Fortunately, before I
            started chemotherapy, my husband was able to put me on his insuarance
    plan. Yes, I realize I was lucky. But I'm even luckier than you think.

As I was writing my graphic memoir, CANCER VIXEN, I found this fact: 49% of the women who are diagnosed with breast cancer and don't have health insurance have a greater risk of dying from the disease. Why? The put off getting screened even if they find a lump - I know. I did it. Or once they get screened and are diagnosed, they may have to wait to get treated because of what the insurance companies call a "pre-existing condition". Or they stop mid-treatment because they don't have insurance and can't fund it themselves. MONEY = LIFE. NOT ENOUGH MONEY can and very often does = DEATH.

Every woman, whether she has insurance or not, deserves to live. NO BREAST LEFT BEHIND - that's what the CANCER VIXEN FUNd is all about.

I first establised the CANCER VIXEN FUNd at St Vincent's Hospital to help uninsured and underinsured women receive the best breast care by focusing on early detection. EARLY DETECTION = A 98% SURVIVAL RATE. On National Mammography Day, in October 2006, I personally funded 38 mammograms for uninsured and underinsured women at St Vincents Comprehensive Cancer Center, where I had my treatments. Since then, we've raised $335,728.00, which enabled us to fund the screenings of 362 women, (38+362+ 400 women in total) of which 67 of those women came back for further imaging, and 8 biopsies. We saved two lives. In addition to the free mammogram screenings, proceeds from this year's event will be used to establish the CANCER VIXEN LYNX program, which will provide companions to any patient diagnosed with cancer who is uninsured. Their role will be to help the patient navigate the healthcare system in order to receive the best possible treatment, provide support for the patient and her family, and ensure that no woman has to face this frightening process of care alone, and no woman falls through the cracks. NO BREAST LEFT BEHIND.

Peace, love and Healthcare for All!