Opinion

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Turning Silence Into Hope

W

hen my wife reminded me
about the walk at Drake Park
in West Bloomfield on Sunday,
Sept. 21, I said,"Yeah, sure my head still
in the fog of the financial tsunami featur-
ing the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers,
the government bailout of AIG, money-
market fund losses and Treasury Secretary
Paulson's plan for the government to buy
$700 billion of toxic mortgage-backed
securities. I couldn't think about the
meaning of a charity walk while the
economy was teetering in the midst of the
worst crisis since the Great Depression.
Shabbat came after the stock market
recovered and a calm sanity seemed to
reappear. On Sunday morning, we picked
up our friend, Beverly Yost, who had asked
if we could join her in the Janis Warren
Walk to raise money to battle ovarian
cancer. I had sent a donation, but was not
looking forward to getting up early on
a chilly, cloudy morning to walk. I had
silently accepted, however, knowing this
was just a little mitzvah and certainly not
worth making a fuss about.
I knew that this was the first walk of
its kind, but understood little about ovar-
ian cancer except that one of our dearest
friends is a survivor and that her sister
has been suffering for months from the

same awful disease.
When we arrived at Drake Park, the sky
was gloomy, but the volunteers were spir-
ited as they passed out shirts,
ribbons, bagels, donuts, coffee
and fruit, and had ordered pizza
for after the walk.
I enjoyed the food and the
commitments of the walkers and
volunteers, but was still non-
chalant until the Warren family
spoke about the horrors of ovar-
ian cancer, known as "the Silent
Killer."
As Janis' son-in-law Danny,
daughter Stephanie, and hus-
band Larry Warren began to
speak, the wind died down and
the sun came out. The weather
became nice, but the facts of ovarian can-
cer are anything but.
More than 22,000 women were diag-
nosed with the disease last year and more
than 15,500 will die this year. The chances
of women getting ovarian cancer are about
1 in 67, but greater for white women over
55 and even higher for Ashkenazi Jews.
Most importantly, there is no screening
test for ovarian cancer: no Pap Smear, no
blood test, nothing.

Stay Aware
The heartbreaking words and tears at the
If you don't know whether you have ovarian
Sunday walk from her husband Larry and
cancer, what are the signs? Some signals are
daughter Stephanie prove what the www.
abdominal or pelvic discom-
janiswalk.org Web site claims,"We are not
fort, persistent gastrointestinal
fine'
distress such as gas and indiges-
The Web site goes on: "We are not fine to
tion, frequent urination, unex-
think that her death might have been pre-
plained weight gain or weight
ventable had there been a reliable screening
loss, pelvic or abdominal swell-
exam. We are not fine to think that her death
ing and bloating, and persistent
might be without gain. We are not fine to
fatigue.
think that other women have and will have
These symptoms are so com- the same struggles she did — the debilitat-
mon in women that it becomes
ing course of the cancer followed by a pre-
difficult to tell if you're just stuck mature death:'
in unnecessary fear or if you
really have cancer: that is the
Rallying Support
terrible dilemma.
Rather than staying silent and "moving on:'
Janis Warren was an 11-year
Janis' son, Dr. Michael Warren, an obstetri-
survivor of breast cancer. She
cian/gynecologist in New York, son Jeffrey,
walked daily, watched her health rigorously
daughter Stephanie and husband Larry
and had routine checkups. When she started
decided to take action. They planned a walk
getting "vague" abdominal discomfort and
to raise money for the awareness of ovarian
occasional stomach cramps, she thought
cancer and to benefit a more urgent cause: to
it was just signs of getting older and didn't
support Dr. Michael Tainsky of the Detroit-
complain. By the time ovarian cancer was
based Karmanos Cancer Institute and his
detected, it had already spread.
research to develop a simple blood test to
Chemotherapy, radiation, two surgeries
detect ovarian cancer at an early stage when
and a colostomy kept her going for awhile,
it is much more treatable.
but after 18 months of the war on cancer, she
Having a good, reliable early detection
died. Her last words to her family were, "You
test could save thousands of lives. How
will be just fine when I am gone'
Turning Silence on page A45

Making Work Fit In With Life

Philadelphia/JTA

N

ow is the time of year when we
return to what matters most
in our lives. We reflect on what
we've done and we commit to making
things better in the year ahead.
What a great and powerful moment in
the Jewish cycle. For without this annual
taking stock, how can we evolve to become
the person we want to be and build our
legacy as a positive force during our pre-
cious time on earth?
Following the June publication of my
book, Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader,
Have a Richer Life, I spent much of this
summer traveling the country, speaking
about work and how to make it fit with
the rest of life in ways that are good both
for companies and the people employed
by them. I talked to thousands of people
and I listened for the pulse of American
business.
Here's what I heard: There's much pain.
Too many people feel overwhelmed, dis-

A44

October 2 • 2008

iN

connected, pessimistic and with no other
dawning on us that we need to learn new
is returning to favor in American business.
purpose than to merely survive.
psychological and social technologies, too,
Employers are learning that people perform
Demand for change is the order of the
to avoid drowning in the deluge of nonstop
better in their jobs when they bring passion
day, as it has always been in our Jewish
pressures that come at us through the tethers into the workplace, when they are doing what
tradition. Now, as I step into my 25th
we call cell phones and Blackberries.
they believe matters to the world, and when
year teaching at the Wharton
they have a hand in figuring out how to get it
School of the University of
Beyond Borders
done. Greed and competition were '80s cool.
Pennsylvania, I'm struck by
The Jewish tradition's respect for
Green and collaboration are '08 cool.
how different the work world is
meaningful and useful bound-
As I wrote in my book, being a leader is
today and why a new approach
aries is clearly evident in the
not the same as being a middle manager or
to leadership — no matter
concept of Shabbat, which creates a top executive. Being a leader means inspir-
where you are or what you do
a natural separation in our lives.
ing committed action that engages people
— makes sense.
This tradition holds lessons that
in taking intelligent steps, in a direction you
This new approach is all the
are more relevant today than ever. have chosen, to achieve something that has
more necessary given the new
But just as there are boundar-
significant meaning for all relevant parties.
demands on our time as well
ies, there is also a strong need
Individuals can do this whether they are at
as our evolving aspirations.
Stewart D.
for integrating the various parts
the top, middle or bottom of an organization
Throughout human history, the
of our life. When the different
Friedman
or group. And they can do this in business,
sun's relationship to the earth was
Special
aspects of life fit together as one
families, friendship networks, communities
what determined when people
Commentary
— perhaps the essential Jewish
and social associations.
worked and when they rested.
idea, to which the Shema prayer
This may be easy to say, maybe not so easy
Thanks to the revolution in digital technol-
calls our attention — then everything in life
to do. There are a few simple principles that
ogy, this is no longer true for most people.
seems better.
can help:
New communications tools promise
The ago-old Jewish commitment to social
• Be real, by acting with authenticity and
freedom from time and space, but it's just
justice and respect for the world around us
Making Work on page A45