The bad news: one of my friends has colorectal cancer.  When she let everyone know of her diagnosis, she told us she didn’t want pity.  That’s not her style.  She wants to kick cancer’s ass (pun intended).  She made lots of butt and poop jokes.

The good news: my friend, Kirsten, formed a message board a long time ago on a running website.  It was a board just for women to talk about the women-only issues related to running.  But of course, we grew to be friends.  Close friends.  It’s called the Ladies Locker Room and aside from smaller meetups, the group tries to meet once a year for a race and for lots of fun.  We all came together thanks to Kirsten.

So of course, once we heard of her diagnosis, we had to come together and do something for her.  Not pity her, but support her and show her how much she means to us.

Since she would be enduring chemotherapy, the idea came up for a quilt.  Every one of us would send in an orange square (her favorite color) with a message written on it.  Here are some pictures of the finished quilt and some of the individual squares. A special project for a special woman.  We love you, Kirsten, and we got your back (see what I did there?) (NSFW!)

The important news: Kirsten is young.  And she has colorectal cancer.  GO GET CHECKED.  Right now.  Seriously.  She had symptoms that were easily explained by other things.  It happens.  GO GET CHECKED.  (List of symptoms here)

The also important news: you can kick cancer’s ass!  Kirsten created a zazzle shop with some seriously funny cancer products.  Proceeds go to the Colon Cancer Alliance, Livestrong, and the American Cancer Society.  Raise awareness and help fund research at the same time.