By Rachel Belle

Listen to Gilda’s Club Fashion Show + Cynthia Nixon

Gilda’s Club was named for the great comedienne Gilda Radner, who died of Ovarian Cancer in 1989, and it’s an amazing resource center for people going through cancer themselves, or for their friends and family. It’s what Kristin Johnson turned to when she moved to Seattle for treatment about 10 years ago.

“When I got diagnosed the second time, I knew I needed someone to talk to and you just want to talk to somebody that’s been gone through what you’re going through. When I moved to Seattle we didn’t know anybody, we had no friends here. A lady sent me an article about Gilda’s Club and she said ‘I think this is for you.’ because I guess there are two schools of thought when it comes to cancer: ‘You poor thing, sit down and put your feet up, you’re going to die.’ or the other one where you have laughter and things like that.”

Kristin has been a member and volunteer at Gilda’s for the past 10 years. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer 26 years ago, and after having a mastectomy and treatment, she was cancer free for 10 years. But in year 11 she was diagnosed with lung cancer and given 18 months to live.

“I’ve been Stage 4 for 15 years, I’m really a big success story. I’ve never been in remission and I’ve never been off of treatment.”

Kristin lives half her life in rural Montana, and the other half in Seattle because of the city’s top notch cancer care. But yesterday she flew in for a special visit. Today is the 15th annual Survival With Style Fashion show, one of Gilda’s biggest fundraising events of the year, where cancer patients and survivors strut their stuff on the runway, and tell their stories.

“I modeled a few years ago. It just gave me a chance to, I know this sounds vain, to feel pretty. You get a dress, you get your hair and makeup done. It’s really uplifting.”

To further celebrate the anniversary, Gilda’s Club also sprung for a celebrity speaker. Cynthia Nixon, best known as Miranda from Sex and the City, spoke at today’s luncheon. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 and has been a spokeswoman for the Susan G Komen Foundation. She’s puts special emphasis on gay women getting regular checkups and screenings. She says a lot of lesbians don’t go to the gynecologist as often as straight women, because they’re not dealing with birth control, so they don’t always get the necessary early screenings that can catch cancer before it spreads.

If you or a friend or family member is dealing with cancer, all of Gilda’s resources are free and Kristin can’t speak more highly about the organization.

“It has been just really a lifeline for me. You get to talk to other people that are going through what you’re going through. Sometimes your friends, they empathize, they sympathize, but they don’t speak your same language. Just the knowledge that you learn from other people, in support group, it really helps you out a lot.”

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