MCA Staff Writers

With all the excitement surrounding this summer’s London 2012 Olympic games, MCA had the rare opportunity to interview America’s most decorated U.S. gymnast and ovarian cancer survivor, Shannon Miller, to ask her about the parallels between her battle for the Gold in '96 and the battle for her life a few years later.

Cancer disrupts the normalcy of a person’s life—simple tasks like renewing a driver's license, the safety of waking up healthy in the morning, or the routine of working 9-5 take on a new normal. Keeping employment becomes a top priority for people diagnosed with cancer. In addition to making new goals and reassessing what is and isn't important in life, finding and/or keeping steady employment is necessary for preventing other fallouts from occurring.

The medical costs of cancer, as we saw in the cases of Stacy Brooks and Molly MacDonald, can devastate a family. Ruined credit scores, outstanding bills, and foreclosed homes are only a few of the problems patients and their families can deal with when faced with the costs of surgery, treatment, medications, and other necessities.

The burden of a cancer diagnosis or other serious illness can be devastating physically, emotionally, and especially financially. Every day thousands of patients and their families struggle to make ends meets as medical bills for surgery, treatment, hospital stays, and other personal costs add up.

Left to right- Leah and Stacy

Late last week, Leah and Stacy, two sisters who joined together to fight against the asbestos industry after losing their father to mesothelioma, along with the entire anti-asbestos community, were outraged and saddened when the Canadian government in Quebec loaned the Jeffery asbestos mine $58 million to reopen their operations. Last year, the Jeffery Mine was closed because of financial troubles. With the well-known connection to cancer, the Jeffery mine's closing was a victory for those fighting to close it. Now, more than ever, Leah and Stacy could use the help of all anti-asbestos supporters to help victims and their families' have a voice against this deadly carcinogen and continue to fight to shut down asbestos mining!