awareness Archives - Wine'ing Momma

CoverGirl Features First Model with Vitiligo

March 1, 2018 by Alisha 13 Comments

If you’ve been with me for awhile you’ll recall when I first shared that Morgan had developed vitiligo. At the time I was mad, confused and felt guilty like it was something I had done. We all know how people can be sometimes by staring and asking questions in a very rude manner. I decided to educate myself more about vitiligo and I made sure that my main focus would be on celebrating how unique my daughter is and not harp on her differences.

Morgan

Over the last 3 years not only has her self esteem not wavered, I feel like she is so much more outgoing (and definitely more outspoken). From the beginning, I wanted to make sure that Morgan was able to see other people from all over the world just like her! And can you believe that as big as the vitiligo community is it only makes up 1-2% of the world’s population. Thanks in part to Instagram I’ve had a chance to “meet” some pretty amazing people.

A little over a week ago one of the people I follow shared an image of Amy Deanna. This beautiful young lady was just named as the first CoverGirl model with vitiligo! Can I just tell you that I screamed for joy like she was family?!?! For over 20 years CoverGirl’s trademark slogan had been “Easy, breezy, beautiful…CoverGirl!” Last fall they released their new theme I Am What I Makeup. This new branding is meant to evoke confidence, power, inclusivity, and self-expression. [Read more…]

When Breast Cancer Hits a Loved One

October 26, 2017 by Alisha 7 Comments

October is the month when the world brings more awareness to breast cancer. But for me, each month is a reminder of how breast cancer can affect those we love. On March 1, 2013 my mom had a double mastectomy after a biopsy showed early signs of cancer. Luckily my mom has her mammograms performed yearly and the cancer was caught so early that she did not need radiation or chemotherapy.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, except for skin cancers. About 1 in 8 (12%) women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime.

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for breast cancer in the United States this year are:

About 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.
About 60,290 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be diagnosed (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).
About 39,620 women will die from breast cancer

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World Vitiligo Day June 25th

June 25, 2015 by Alisha 6 Comments

A year ago if you asked me about vitiligo I would have just dismissed it as “the condition that MJ had”. But fast forward to today and it’s now a part of our life. A year ago my youngest daughter, Morgan, started developing a few white spots. (Check out the post HERE) Within a matter of months those spots began to spread and before the end of the summer her knees, feet, elbows were completely white and several large spots on her face.

World Vitiligo Day is an annual day specially dedicated to people with vitiligo. Conceived by patients for patients, World Vitiligo Day is a truly global event that aims to increase awareness of vitiligo and raise funds needed for research and education.

The idea of a World Vitiligo Day was first put forward by Steve Haragadon, the founder of the Vitiligo Friends network from USA and then later developed and finalized by Ogo Maduewesi, a vitiligo patient who is the Founder and Executive Director of the Vitiligo Support and Awareness Foundation (VITSAF) in Nigeria. In early 2012, the VR Foundation has launched the 25June campaign and the dedicated website. Read full story on Wikipedia »

Over this last year I’ve done a lot of reasearch and discovered that there is so much that is unknown about vitiligo. We met with a dermatologist and he prescribed a cream which did absolutely nothing. And what was worse is that he was pretty nonchalant and didn’t really have any suggestions on how to even keep her skin protected. It wasn’t until I started to reach out to the vitiligo community did I get a better grasp of this condition.

I’ve been blessed to learn so much from others about how to help my daughter deal with her changes and how important it is to use sunscreen. I met Lorena of Just My Vitiligo on instagram and she’s been so nice at helping give me tips and encouragement for my daughter. I also came across this clip from the show “What Would You Do?”

What would you have done if you were there? The sad part about this video is that there are so many people who actually feel this way. I’ve even had people ask me if my daughter’s vitiligo is because she’s biracial…smh!

I’m just glad that Morgan is happy and healthy and that’s what we’ll be celebrating today!

Breast Cancer Awareness Nail Art

March 4, 2013 by Alisha 20 Comments

Today’s mani is to show support for my awesome mom. Back in March 2013 her mammogram came back looking a but peculiar. Her doctor suggested she get a biopsy and the results came back for early stages of breast cancer. My mother spoke with several doctors and decided to undergo a double mastectomy. She had her surgery last week and is home recovering and doing well. Her spirit is so positive and I’m just in awe of her strength. Not just physically but mentally. Hope you all enjoy today’s MANICure Monday Breast Cancer Awareness nail art. And thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts!

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