It's hard to believe it's been almost two years since the first F*Cancer bracelet was sold and fundraising for InspireHealth through F*Cancer Embrace Life was launched. As founder, I want to celebrate our success with you and share the highlights of this time.

The Beginning...

April is Cancer Awareness Month in Canada. YYoga is proud to carry F*Cancer bracelets, designed by local Vancouver designer, Susan Fiedler. Support integrated cancer care and purchase a F*Cancer bracelet from your center's eco-boutique with $50 from each bracelet benefiting InspireHealth Integrated Cancer Care Centre.
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I have been a jewelry designer and world traveler for most of my adult life. I’m accustomed to working hard and relying on myself: I’ve worked on a fishing boat, tended bar, lived in Bali and San Francisco, and taught myself to snowboard and ski. But in 2006, I found myself really struggling. I was seriously exhausted, spending more and more time in bed. I thought it was burnout. It never crossed my mind I had cancer. I’ve always been such a healthy, active person. And I was only 38!

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The cheap plastic yellow LiveStrong bracelets by the Lance Armstrong Foundation have raised millions for the cause, but really, who is going to wear that on a daily basis, if at all? Of course the dollar cost is no biggie and a worthwhile, inexpensive purchase, but isn’t it better to have a piece of jewelry that you can proudly wear? Vancouver jewelry designer and cancer survivor Susan Fiedler of Soul Flower has been turning heads with her elegant sterling silver bracelet engraved with the words we all feel — “Fuck Cancer.”

Inscribed on an elegantly simple silver bangle, and resembling an EEG lifeline, is the defiantly positive message: F*ck Cancer. The work of Vancouver-based Susan Fiedler, who knows firsthand what it takes to face this disease, this charmed bracelet was an expression of her own experience, but she found many cancer survivors using the same motto, and was delighted to find it expressive of a shared attitude.

Imagine for me please……..you are a young, dynamic, world travelling, independent, creative jewellery designer. Now, try to also imagine, that you have just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, told that you are basically incurable.

What would you do?

Would you lay down and die? Or would you fight?

Would you follow every order your doctor gave you unquestioningly, or would you demand second opinions and seek alternative healing options?

Jewellery designer Susan Fiedler gets right to the point with this eye-catching charm. As the review puts it, nothing against pink ribbons, but tough causes call for tough language. "The F*Cancer bracelet is delicate but strong, subtle but forthright. Wearing one brings plain speech and a little charm-bracelet magic into a battle that’s worth our lives."

So, in the meantime, I’ll try to enjoy each day as much as I can - and take the advice that’s inscribe on a gift from my brother Moses, the founder of this magazine. It’s a handsome silver bracelet, and he wears one exactly like it in solidarity. The engraving looks like the squiggles on a medical monitor. But if you look closely, you can read the legend: F**k Cancer!

Sure, pink ribbons and yellow wristbands send a positive message, but here’s a bracelet that doesn’t mince words. Embracing the strong and courageous spirit of many cancer patients and survivors, these bracelets by Vancouver jewellery company Soul Flower are delicate in design but strong in their message. Engraved within an ECG-like lifeline are the fighting words “F–k Cancer”—a sassy, life-affirming message juxtaposed with the tasteful design of the simple silver bangle.