Pivot for Prevention!
By now, all of us have experienced a pivot in our lives.
For days we have been captivated by what is coming out of Washington and from the CDC along with reports from government healthcare officials. This is a global pandemic.
It’s unprecedented. It is alarming. It’s very real and it is very sad to think of people being in such harms way.
Last week, I watched as markets fell and did not bounce back. Clients called, friends called, and I found myself talking about the reassurance that comes when you have a solid financial plan in place. If you don’t, let’s talk. Or if you are uncertain about your course for the future, sign up for a free 15-minute consult with me.
I also received a notice that made my heart fall. Officials with the Nepalese government made the difficult decision to close Mt. Everest.
I immediately took to the internet world and like many of you, I “Googled” for answers! You understand, when there’s a crisis, you want quick answers but there is none with this virus. There is shock, disbelief, denial, anger, and finally acceptance.
I can’t say that I’m completely at the acceptance phase, but I’m on my way. I’ll get there! I do know this: the coronavirus is not greater than my faith to believe, but it is greater than my desire to go beyond the limits of where I should go and where the government is saying I can go.
Disappointed? Yes. I am and I’m sure that many of you are, too. You have or had planned events that are now canceled—like weddings, reunions, graduations, and tickets to one or more of the playoff games during March Madness.
Think about what I have just written: you and I had plans. What about the people that had not planned to get sick with this virus? What about the doctors and the healthcare workers, who have literally placed their lives on the line for each one of us?
Suddenly, you understand that a climb up a mountain, any mountain, pales when compared to the loss of human life. The truth is people are dying world-wide because of this unrelenting virus.
So, it’s time for us momentarily to lay aside personal desires and even passions. Mt. Everest is not going anywhere. I know this. It will be there when it is my time to climb it.
I was disappointed and even very sad for other reasons. My goal was to make a difference, an impact, a dent in raising awareness for cancer prevention.
That’s what this entire climb to the summit of Mt. Everest was and is all about—being at base camp in the fight to save lives. By saving lives, I mean this: lives are saved when you are educated, when you keep your annual doctor’s appointments, and through early detection.
The fact is, nearly one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time during their lives. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S. after lung cancer. Even more shocking is the fact that only about 67 percent of women above the age of 40 report having a mammogram within the last two years. And the annual lack of compliance rate is even lower at around 50%!
So, my summit cry is the same: If cancer is diagnosed at stage zero, there is a 98% cure rate. Let’s do it!
Those who know me, know I rarely if ever give up. I’m all in when it comes to Everyday Everest and to raising funds for a new mobile unit that can travel to areas where women do not have quick or easy access to a medical facility.
So, you can see that I’m still going to find a way to summit Everest—just in a different way. #Everyday Everest@ Sea Level Summit.
Cancer doesn’t take a day off. I don’t plan to either. I’m going to pivot for prevention!
As one cancer patient says, “Cancer tries to take over the entire body. It doesn’t care how old you are, how rich or poor, or how physically fit you are. It is relentless.”
I want to be just as relentless in reaching this summit. I believe this new mobile unit will be used ultimately for early prevention. It will offer medical services to women, who may not take the time or have the advantage to keep those all-important breast exams or a number of other tests.
Will you join with me by watching the above short video and by going to everydayeverest.org and taking the healthcare pledge and donating to fund this new mobile unit?
Thank you!
About The Author: Cokie Berenyi
Cokie Berenyi has been in financial services and serving the needs of individual and institutional clients and entrepreneurs since 1996. Mother, author, business owner, financial “samurai” and Perfect Day engineer, Cokie loves food, wine, travel, stray dogs, goat cheese, tennis, and alpine mountaineering.
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