Teaming up with @PGeveryday & @SheSpeaksUp to raise awareness & bring you a great #Giveaway too! #PGBestDefense

{CLOSED}: WINNER IS ENTRY #644 - COURTNEY RENEE, CONGRATULATIONS!

ad: This is a Sponsored Post & Giveaway brought to you in conjunction with SheSpeaks and P&G

I am honored to team up with P&G and SheSpeaks again this year for a very important cause, Breast Cancer Awareness. Last year I participated in the P&G GIVE Hope Do It For the Girls Day of Action where I participated in a blogger round-table with Breast Cancer Survivor and host of E! News Giuliana Rancic, if you missed my recap to that event click HERE. That day inspired me so much that after a visit to my primary (I changed my Primary Doctor shortly after my long term hospitalizations in 2012), where I shared my Family History with Cancer, he opted to have me begin annual Mammograms earlier than I needed to, and I shared about my very first ever Mammogram HERE.

I am so proud of P&G for being consistently involved in such an important cause that directly affects so many lives. I would say too many lives. In fact One in EVERY Eight women will get Breast Cancer in her lifetime. The death rate in fact is actually HIGHER among Latina and African American women. Every hour and a half a Latina woman dies of Breast Cancer in the United States! As a Latina I find this statistic beyond alarming and if I can help in some small way to give another woman the courage to do her self exams MONTHLY, and talk to her Primary Care Physician about getting her Mammogram than I am more than happy to do so.

This year, the P&G Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign has partnered with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) to educate everyone about the importance of early detection. Throughout the month of October you can visit the P&G Breast Cancer Awareness Website to hear P&G employees' who share inspiring stories about moments made possible in their lives due to early detection and also download the NBCF's Early Detection Plan App!

According to the National Cancer Institute, Early Detection is the BEST defense against Breast Cancer. The earlier it is detected, the higher the survival rate. When detected during the localized, (or early) stage, the five year survival rate is 98%!  An ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure my butterflies!

I am actually due for my annual Mammogram very soon, and want to encourage my butterflies that if you have been putting it off, please don't. Schedule your appointment as soon as possible! Breast Cancer, doesn't care how young you are, how healthy and athletic you may be, and it doesn't care that you have no history of it in your family, early detection is the key to saving lives.

P&G goes 'Pink' in October and we partnering with SheSpeaks and P&G to bring you a chance to win some of their most loved products and brands in a 'Pinktober Giveaway'  full of goodies to remind you about the importance of pink!

Enter using Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Double Your Chances to Win and Join the TWITTER PARTY!

**Please Note: Ascending Butterfly is NOT a host or co-host for this party so please direct any and all questions to the host**

Join @PGeveryday and special guest @CoreyWootton for a special Twitter Party about the importance of creating an early detection plan and rallying the women in your life to do the same! (You might want to be sure you are following the hosts before the day of the party, this way if you win the hosts can DM you to get your info for prize fulfillment! and don't forget to RSVP and actively use the hashtag during the party!)

When: Thursday, October 22

Time: 3 p.m. EST

RSVP: http://bit.ly/PGbcaRSVP

Hashtag: #PGBestDefense

My Take:

Cancer has affected my family and I know first hand how devastating it is. Early detection is key for every cancer type not just breast cancer, so please butterflies do your monthly self-exam, and if you have a history of Cancer in your family speak to your primary about referring you for a Mammogram, you do NOT have to wait until age 40 if you have a history in your family or you detect a lump! Playing it safe is the best way to ensure you'll be able to keep playing at all!

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FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored/compensated post and giveaway in conjunction with SheSpeaks and P&G Everyday. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure. All opinions are 100% my own and I can't begin to stress just how important early detection is in saving lives. Ascending Butterfly staff are NOT medical experts nor do we make claims to be, always check with your Physician FIRST!

@DuaneReade NEW Balance Rewards Program I made the SWAP! #DRBalanceRewards

This busy butterfly has been toying with changing her name from Ascending Butterfly to Social Butterfly and with good reason, all this running around and event hopping means certain things have been un-attended for awhile, like ahem, shopping for personal items! I've run out some essentials and decided it was time to kill two birds with one stone.

This is the first sign I saw as soon as I hit my local Duane Reade,  perfect reminder!

On September 16, the Duane Reade FlexRewards Program was converted to the Balance Rewards Program, and since I'm a Duane Reade VIP Blogger and Blogger Brand Ambassador, I had been meaning to swap out and switch to the new card WAY sooner, but my schedule has been absolutely insane, and while there are Duane Reade's nearly everywhere, I just hadn't had the time to stop in and actually do it.

Ever since my Medical Nightmare that began last year, I've upped my dietary supplements and vitamins, and realized that I was out of Krill Oil, and I was also out of Red Lipstick! Now red is my daily signature lip color, some people can pull it off, others can't, for me, it's a custom blend look that includes several different varieties of red colors and gloss that help me get to my desired shade. Aside from the heart health benefits of Krill Oil (which you also get from certain foods including Salmon, my personal favorite), I also find it gives me an energy boost. And I’m all for finding healthy ways to get a good energy boost! (Since my work out routine is still ammended dietary supplements are super important for me especially right now).

Another reminder, there was one on BOTH the left and right hand side of the store entrance!

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to swap cards first, or make my purchases first, but I ultimately decided that it should be OK to just shop first and then do everything at the register. And it worked out just fine!

Bye Bye Old Friend! If cards could talk! Parting is such sweet, rewarding sorrow!

About Balance Rewards:

Getting Rewarded for Everyday Purchases Could Not Be Easier!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Balance Rewards keeps some of the most popular features of FlexRewards such as exclusive savings for members and the opportunity to earn points and redeem rewards, while giving customers even more benefits.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - The Balance Rewards program is now active at both Duane Reade and Walgreens. Duane Reade customers can now earn and redeem points at over 7,900 stores nationwide.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Customers can join Balance Rewards at any Duane Reade or Walgreens store at the checkout counter, pharmacy and photo kiosk. They can also sign up online at duanereade.com/balance or on their mobile phone via the upcoming Duane Reade Mobile Application due for release early 2013.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Duane Reade customers who join Balance Rewards will now be able to earn points and savings on thousands of items in store and online at www.walgreens.com.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Members can earn points for making healthy choices, including 10 points for every mile logged in the Walk with Walgreens program. You can earn points for walking up to 100 miles per month.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Duane Reade Balance Rewards members will also earn 10 points per $1.00 spent for every purchase of non-prescription vitamin, cough, cold, pain or sleep medication at stores located in NY, NJ or AR where points cannot be earned on pharmacy items due to regulations.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - AARP members will get exclusive 5 bonus point offers and 5,000 points when they spend $25 every month.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Duane Reade Flex Rewards program points will be converted to Balance Rewards and become available when customers join in the new program. 

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Duane Reade customers converting from FlexRewards will now have the opportunity to earn more bonus point offers on a weekly basis that can lead to a faster $5 reward redemption than ever before.

Points go further as you earn more.

Points earned	Reward
5,000	$5
10,000	$10
18,000	$20
30,000	$35
40,000	$50

Watch the Trailer to learn more:

Still have Questions? You can always reach Duane Reade's Customer Service and they will help you!

My Take:

It was super easy to make the swap, the cashier scanned my old card, there was some info that needed to be filled in and I gave it to her and she typed it in, and then I hit a button to confirm that the details were now correct and they handed me the new card and a smaller one to put on my keychain. I got enough bonus points + points with my first purchase post conversion to get a $5 reward that I could use on my next purchase, or I can just wait until I have a 1,920 more points to be able to get a $10 reward instead of a $5 reward, which is pretty cool! I like getting rewards for my day to day purchases, it makes my inner 'fab frugalista' super happy!

You can also see more photos from my 'swap mission' on google plus (where I am sure you are already following me right?)

Get Social With It:

Follow Duane Reade  on Twitter and ‘Like’ them on Facebook. - Don’t forget to tell them you saw them Featured on Ascending Butterfly and that you made the switch! For more information, visit duanereade.com or youtube.com/duanereade

Butterfly Did You Make the NEW Balance Rewards Swap Yet?

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FTC Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric #DRBalanceRewards  I am a Duane Reade VIP Blogger and Ambassador which does entitle me to additional incentives. However, all opinions expressed  are 100% my own.

Thank You + Not quite the way I had in mind to lose more weight!

As many of you know I'm going through the fight of my life right now and I have been sharing my journey along the way, you can refer to these posts to get caught up (in order of most recent post about my experience to oldest):

1. An Open Letter to New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, (and to New Yorkers) and . .

2. Wordless Wednesday: More Prayers!

3. Prayers and Good Vibes Needed

4. Today's HA! HA! Moment!

5.  Happy New Year Butterfly!

While in the hospital amazing online groups I belong to have rallied around me to help make this difficult time much more bearable. In many ways my online friends have rallied for me harder and faster than some of my real life ones! A beautiful flower arrangement (done inside a tea cup) and a balloon appeared at the hospital from:

http://llbloggers.com/

I was so surprised and they defintely lifted my spirits, including the messages of support from the group too! And a visit from one of the members of the groups where we got to meet IRL (in real life) for the first time was such a wonderful surprise!

And another amazing surprise was that the Latina Bloggers Connect crew created a chip in account to help with my Medical Expenses, donations have started to come in, and honestly it all brought tears to my eyes. I'm usually the person who gives, and at first was a bit uncomfortable with the idea. But I realized that this isn't a time to worry about pride, but to worry about my health. This gift allows me to focus on my health and not worry so much about bills. It's not just the donations that have come in, but many being from perfect strangers with messages of support and encouragement that have really touched me.

My articles about my harrowing experience at the hands of a hospital have had an amazing trickle effect even I didn't think about, be it from reading my article, or donating to my chipin, people have shared THEIR stories with ME. Horrible medical experiences, their own medical challenges, or those of someone they love, and all the stories have been so moving!

So I also want to thank the amazing folks behind:

For setting up the following Chip In Fund (you can press on the button below if you'd like to also contribute and you will also notice the button on my sidebar as well):

And a special thanks to each and every one of you who have contributed so far!

Now me being the cheeky person I am and having the wicked sense of humor that I do, I have to share I have lost more weight since all this craziness began. The almost two weeks under heavy meds made food pretty un-appetizing and now clothes and even underwear are very loose on me, not the way I had in mind to loose more weight this year! But I guess I have found one positive in all this negative. Last year I slowly lost almost 26 pounds. And this year with this medical struggle I'm losing even more weight. So unlike most, I've kept the holiday pounds at bay! But not in a way I'd recommend of course.

I'm temporarily back home, and enjoying escaping that crazy hospital and my crazy hospital roomie. I can sleep in total darkness and silence again! Well, at least until I have to go back to the new hospital I am changing my care to. I can eat 'real' meals again, and get some air/sun and of course take real showers in a bathroom with a working shower. Even a long bathe. Something we think of as commonplace and even take for granted until we can't have them.....

Have a friend in the hospital? Here are some do's and don'ts:

DO - Visit them. Hours are insanely slow when your life screeches to a halt.

DON'T - Give them the 'poor baby' look. I'm not saying lie and tell them that they look fab, they don't need or want that either, but the 'poor baby' look makes people want to scream.

DON'T - Over tax the patient, don't bring them stress, theirs or yours.

DO - Leave after a reasonable amount of time. The person may feel like they have to keep up energy they really don't have to make YOU feel comfortable.

DON'T - Arrive empty handed. BUT:

DO -  A little recon, find out if they can have flowers (not all units allow the patients to have them in their rooms. My unit did NOT allow flowers in the patient's room which I was super bummed about.) Things most patients will always need: PJ's, toiletries (invariably you will forget something that they don't have), lotions (your skin ends up feeling like sandpaper in there), treats (waiting on the food tray to arrive is nerve wracking, many times you don't get what you want, it tastes awful and you end up hungry way before the next tray is set to arrive). So once you find out what they can have and can't have, be sure to bring treats or food, it will be greatly appreciated.

DO - Ask about the patient's care with the patient and the team, patients who are being looked after get better care. period. Make sure enough people are visiting that patient so the hospital staff knows you will notice anything out of place or any negative treatment or problems.

DO -  Keep in mind the patient's schedule is no longer their own, they often have to take tests so may not be in their room, and when they just get back to the room be it after surgery or after testing, they are exhausted. If they fall asleep, LET them sleep and come back to visit at another time.

Right now it takes so much extra time to do things I normally never had to think about, but I'm actively working at keeping my spirits up and remaining inspired.

If I can keep my spirits up despite my current challenges, so can YOU!

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored Post. I am choosing to thank the online groups that sent cheer my way during a very difficult hospital stay. I was under no obligation to do so and all opinions expressed here are 100% my own.