On April 28th, DistinXion participated in a basketball tournament for Coaches vs Cancer to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society.  During the fundraising process, DistinXion shared stories of those that have battled cancer in the blog series titled, "More than a Name."  In our final installment of "More than a Name,"  two sisters share their response to their dad's heroic battle with cancer.   Here is the story of Carl Breeden:  "Vanessa's Side of the Story:  In August of 2011 my father, Carl Breeden, was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  I am sure that anyone who has ever had a loved one given a cancer diagnosis can relate to the sick feeling I instantly had in the pit of my stomach.  He means so much to so many people…he is an amazing father, loving husband, supportive papaw, active church member, loyal friend…I could go on and on.  My sister and I sprang into action, researching where he could get second opinions, the best treatment, etc.  Our family has always been close knit and I thanked God for that especially during this time when we had to work together on something so important. Dad has never been one to worry and was determined not to let his diagnosis change that.  The only things he seemed to worry about was how his family was handling the diagnosis and if he would still be able to play his weekly pickup game.  Even though he wasn’t able to play for nearly 8 months, his love for basketball still helped him through the process.  As an avid sports fan, he continued to attend Hatchets’ games (both basketball and other sports).  As an avid Zeller fan (both on and off the court), he attended many IU games and tuned in to as many UNC games as he could.  He...

    This past week, I did an interview with a christian magazine about our cheerleading camps and what makes them different.  For those of you that don't know, we have restructured the cheerleading division to be focused on cheerleading team camps.  These camps are primarily geared towards junior high and high school cheerleading squads, with private camps available to all ages.   That being said, DistinXion Cheerleading's target audience is teenage girls...pray for us. JUST KIDDING!  I love working with this age group for so many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is because this is the age in which these girls are quickly maturing into women, and as a result they are forming the foundation of their self-identity and an understanding of themselves and womanhood.   The reporter from this magazine asked me if I felt that I had more challenges when compared to the challenges within the basketball division.  I couldn't help but give a resounding YES!  Now please, don't misunderstand me here.  I am in no way trying to minimize the challenges of adolescent boys because they, too, will have their own particular battles as they grow into young men.  However, with the complexity of women's feelings, emotions, self-identity and feelings of personal worth, coupled with society's consistent attack on a woman's image and feminine expectations, working with women of any age that are battling to develop and confirm a positive self image is one of the most difficult tasks to bear.   As with every woman, my own personal development has a been a struggle to understand who I am, who I'm supposed to be, and who it's ok to be.  We have so many cultural pulls at a women's identity, making all of us believe that who we are is just simply not good enough.  As flawed human...

 While raising funds for Coaches vs Cancer, DistinXion is sharing stories of those that have battled cancer to raise awareness of the extreme effect it can have on families.  In our second installment of "More Than a Name," Zeller family friend, Chip Snively tells the story of his heroic wife, Tanja, and her fight against cancer while remaining strong for her family.   Here's Tanja's story:  "Tanja Snively: Our Wonder Woman Our family and close friends have had way too much experience with cancer. And last year participating in the Coaches vs Cancer t-shirt fundraiser, and having the name of my brother (Curtis Snively) and great friend (Brad Singer), both survivors, included on the official shirt was a nice remembrance of their fight. But who knew?…… In September of 2011 my wife, Tanja (affectionately known as Wonder Woman to family and friends), found out that her mother had Stage 3 breast cancer. Tanja immediately got organized and went to Missouri to help and support her mother, and ultimately drove her to the Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. With family distributed across the country and the world, it was a family/team effort to help her parents get through this difficult time. After getting the situation under control and a plan in place with her Mom, Tanja returned to Chapel Hill to get back to her job and family. However, she had to consider how she was going to assist her Mom during this time, which would require some travel, and the family to make adjustments in schedules, plans, etc. All of which we were prepared to do.  A month later Tanja went in for her yearly mammogram, a ritual given fibronoma lumps she and her sisters have lived with for years, but always paid close attention to. The recent situation with her Mom was no cause...