Cancer Takes a Hike

I just heard about this amazing website through the Colon Cancer Alliance September e-newsletter.

The site is called Cancer Takes a Hike, and was started by a Stage IV colon cancer patient named Andrew Stevens. Stevens was diagnosed in 2005. As he says on the site, "I had tumors in my colon, liver, spleen, and on my right adrenal gland and was given just a few months to live. Now, even after four surgeries and almost 40 rounds of chemotherapy, I still have cancer. But due to the amazing care from my doctors and nurses and an outpouring of love and support from my wife, family, friends, and thoughts and prayers of many, I am closing in on the four year anniversary of my diagnosis."

In honor of this incredible milestone, Stevens is hiking 160 miles of the Appalachian Trail with his brother and a good friend.

Fairly mind-blowing, eh? I certainly think so!

In addition to raising awareness by attempting this arduous hike, Stevens is also raising funds for the Colon Cancer Alliance. To make a donation to the CCA in honor of Andrew Stevens and Cancer Takes a Hike, click here.

Leroy Sievers, 1955-2008

Oh gosh. This is a sad one.

Header courtesy of NPR

Leroy Sievers, a well-known journalist, died last night. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2001, and passed away at the age of 53.

I have been following Leroy's cancer journey through his NPR blog, My Cancer. I must admit, I didn't read it as thoroughly as I could have - the parallels to my stepdad hit a little too close to home. But the blog is astonishing in its candor, and if you have the emotional energy for it, I greatly encourage you to read it.

Sievers began the blog in February 2006, when his cancer returned after first being treated four years earlier. What began as colon cancer had spread to his brain and lung. Sievers was told he had six months to live. Two and a half years later - this morning, at 7:59AM eastern time - came the post that began, "Dear Friends: I'm so sorry to bring you this news." And it wasn't written by Leroy.

Cancer never ceases to deal bad hands to good people, which, to me, is the most frustrating thing about it.

But instead, I try to focus on the silver lining: look at Sievers' legacy. Not only did he have an exceptional career as a journalist, but he has also left us his blog, My Cancer, the accomplishment of which he said he was most proud. This blog is tragic, but full of insight and even - way down deep in there, between the lines and beyond the pixels - hope.

What was to be Leroy's final post came on Thursday, August 14th. He titled it "The Dog We Never Had," and he wrote:

"He is the dog we never had.

He's a Bernese Mountain dog. A big one. We always knew what his name was going to be ...'Spanky' ... no matter what.

The fact that he would be a toy didn't really bother us. We couldn't have a real one because we both traveled too much.

So here he is, sitting with me on the bed. My comrade in cancer.

A boy and his dog."

To me, this post encapsulates the cancer journey. When my stepdad John was sick, especially in the final weeks and days of his life, we were all swirling in a sea of emotion. But even during that tumultuous time, I couldn't help but be fascinated by how the simplest things brought him joy. Like a child. This brilliant man, a physicist and an eternal academic, smiling like a boy in the final days of his life.

I remember thinking to myself at the time, "So this is the circle of life. It's not a cliche after all." Leroy Sievers' final post captures the same feeling. "A boy and his dog." Tragically, Leroy Sievers' circle, like John's, closed far too early. But how phenomenal that he let us all inside before it did.


For complete NPR coverage, click here.

Open Letter: Is It Appropriate?

Breast cancer survivor Suzanne Somers has written an open letter to Christina Applegate, published on People.com. I'm a little dubious about this, as "Thighmaster" Somers clearly likes media attention... but she's a cancer survivor, she's been married for 31 years, and she has built a multi-million dollar empire in addition to her decades-long career as a television actress, so I suppose I can't knock her too badly. Plus, there are some good, positive thoughts here:

Dear Christina,

Cancer is scary, and lonely. You can't ask anyone to make decisions for you because it's just too heavy. There is a lot of 'rush to treatment,' when what you really need is time to research and think about how you want to approach this. Take your time Christina, there is no rush. Take your time and think it through. Use your cancer to learn and grow and as a force to work for you. You might choose to take an alternative approach. There are more options than the ones presented to you in the oncologist's office. You will make it. The success and drive you have had in your career will be the same strengths you will use to win over this nasty disease. And I am here if you want to talk to someone who was 'there.'

Sincerely,
Suzanne Somers

A nice gesture, I guess. But is this really appropriate, or is it just to get a little press? I am going to choose to believe that it's a kind, genuine gesture meant to give support from a breast cancer survivor to a newly diagnosed patient. Perhaps this letter will give hope to others as well. So... okay.

Now back to the Olympics!

Check this out!

The lovely ladies over at Young Working Women have posted an interview with me! Check it out if you want to learn a little more about me (and see a sneak peek of the photo I sent into SU2C for the montage).

And if you are a young working woman (even if you're between jobs, like me!) I urge you to join this supportive and fabulous group.

Cancer Quote Fri - uh, Saturday!

Ok, so it's not Friday, but it is in the early morning hours of Saturday here in London - and the very wee hours in the States - so here goes.

I just uploaded my photos from my recent trip to the Midwest, and couldn't wait to share this quote from the Richard & Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Plaza in Chicago. It is on the first of a series of bronze plaques that surround the plaza entrance.



The plaque reads:

"Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells. It is the most feared disease in America, because it is not understood, even though it is not the largest killer. If we understood cancer, we would not be as afraid of it. It is estimated that the average individual has a wildly dividing cell six times a day. The immune system recognizes this, kills it, and we never know the difference. When the immune system lets down, even temporarily, and these dividing cells get established to the point that the immune system cannot control them, we have cancer."

Upon further Googling, it turns out that Richard and Annette Bloch have named a number of these cancer survivor parks all over the USA. Richard Bloch, co-founder of H&R Block, was a lung cancer survivor (!!!) who died of heart failure in 2004 at the age of 78. After being declared cancer free, he and his wife Annette dedicated their lives to helping people with cancer. The R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation website has some good information; a free e-book for cancer supporters; links to cancer articles and programs; and more. This is an incredibly positive site, clearly reflecting the attitude of its founder.

Ooh, heartwarming stuff! I love it! A great way to start a weekend.

So Much to Learn, So Little Time

All of a sudden it's late July, and I am heading back to the States to visit my family (and, fingers crossed, procure my student visa). My school year is fast approaching, and I am trying not to get cold feet as I ponder jumping into my year-long MBA program two months from now. Instead, I think about these past months - my "independent study time" as I have called them, when I'm not calling myself a lady of leisure or domestic goddess. I almost wish I could say I have gotten bored, or am ready for more structure in my life. But the truth is, this time has been amazing for me and I'm not ready to let it go.

I still have so much to learn! I still have so many books to read! As I began packing to head home, I must have cycled through four or five different cancer books to take on the plane, all of which I want to have under my belt before I start school (and thus no longer have time for any reading other than school reading... sigh). Then I signed into Amazon and ordered another one. Will I have time to do all this reading? No. But I will get to it all eventually, and chronicle it here.

In other news, I was able to interview Sherry Lansing, the former CEO of Paramount Pictures who is working on Stand Up To Cancer. The interview will be published on Look to the Stars soon, and I can't wait for it to be out there in cyberspace! So keep your eyes peeled...

Must get back to packing. Maybe then I'll have some time to read.

Colon Cancer Featured on WebMD

I visited WebMD yesterday and was surprised but happy - at first - to see that "Colon Cancer Symptoms" was one of the four featured article tabs (along with an article about how watermelon has Viagra-like effects... Happy 4th of July!) on the front page. How great that they are spotlighting colon cancer, I thought to myself. I clicked the tab, and a handsome and pensive man appeared next to the words "Colon Cancer Symptoms" and "Symptoms usually appear in later stages. Here's what to look for."

A further click led me to the symptoms section of WebMD's Colorectal Cancer Health Center. And again, my initial reaction was, "Wowee! Look at all this great info!" It is a good resource, with information that would be very helpful to someone who is experiencing the obvious symptoms of late-stage colon cancer, or whom has been diagnosed and needs to learn about the disease fast.

But basically, a site like this is not going to help people be any less afraid of colon cancer (or other cancers, if they are similarly discussed, which I assume they are). I know I have to understand that WebMD exists to give unbiased, factual information - and with cancer, the facts are often very, very hard to hear. So I can't wholly blame the website. It just made me feel slightly defeated, I must admit.

I wish that the site could focus more on prevention, especially with colon cancer because it is highly preventable when people are appropriately screened. Instead, the "Prevention" section is buried between "Treatment Overview" and "Home Treatment," which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

This issue is bigger than me. After all, who funds WebMD? How does the site make money? Oh, I know! They get revenue from all the pharmaceutical companies who advertise their drugs! And why would drug companies want to advertise on a site that says, "You can prevent this disease from reaching late stages just by getting screened regularly"? Oh. They wouldn't. Huh.

Sigh. Alright, well, moving on.

Here is What Cancer is, By the Way.

I have to point out this article (and its multimedia incarnation online) from the June 23 issue of Newsweek. The article is cowritten by Robert A. Weinberg - a name I knew sounded familiar to me - the author of One Renegade Cell, one of the books on my reading list. And frankly, after reading this article, I'm not sure I even need the book (but of course I will). This article gives a great, concise, easy to understand introduction to what cancer is, how it starts, and the lifestyle choices that are in our control to lessen our chances of getting it.

One of my initial motivations for starting this blog was that I, a passionate cancer advocate, could not answer this simple question: What is cancer?

I'm getting there though, and I could probably explain it myself, because for such a complex disease, it starts quite simply - but I'll leave it to Dr. Weinberg this time:

"All tumors begin with one renegade cell [and yes, quoting his own book title is what led me to realize who he was]. Initially the cell is just one of about 30 trillion or so in the body. It looks no different from the cells around it, and, like those cells, it divides only if the organ it's part of needs it to divide. Then, even though the organ around it has enough cells, the renegade cell begins to multiply uncontrollably: one cell becomes two, two become four, four become eight, until the descendants are beyond counting."

It sounds so simple, doesn't it? No wonder Nixon declared the War on Cancer in 1971 - a disease that starts with just one stupid, ugly, mutant cell with a bad attitude should be easy enough to cure, right?

Yeah, not so much.

So what can we do, Dr. Weinberg? He says we can stop smoking (duh), eat foods that don't have a bunch of creepy chemicals in them (duh), and get off our butts on a regular basis (duh). This is not news to me, and it's probably not news to you. But apparently Americans can't hear this enough - our most present cancers (breast, colon, prostate) occur at a fraction of our rate in other parts of the world.

This article may not be groundbreaking, but I sure hope a lot of people read it. If my cancer reading has taught me anything, it's that this disease has a nasty way of striking at random and without bias. But there are fundamental things we can do to prevent cancer - and it goes without saying that we need to be doing them.

I suppose I won't be going out for fish 'n chips for dinner after all.

Exciting Writing News!

Here is what made my day yesterday:

I had been thinking for a long time about starting a blog that would combine some of my main interests: cancer advocacy, philanthropy (in my former life I was a fundraiser), and celebrity pop culture. I wanted to write about celebrities (and other wealthy folk, and even some not as wealthy folk) giving their time, money, and other resources to non-profit organizations, in an effort to get the word out there that giving is good, and easy to do, and vitally important to more people than one can fathom.

But I was so overwhelmed at the thought of starting this venture. Where to even begin? How to get the word out? Etcetera.

So finally yesterday I did a Google blog search, just in case someone had already seized my idea (as is so often the case with blogs these days, considering the gazillions of them that are out there)... and lo and behold, I came upon this:

Look to the Stars! A fantastic blog started by a husband and wife team, containing a vast online library of celebrities and their charities, as well as the last news in celebrity giving, all in a really well-written and fun-to-read format.

I emailed the editors immediately, offering to help them in any way that I could. I heard right back from them, and will be starting to write for them soon! I am so excited to add another dimension to my blogging experience. Not to mention the fact that I will be able to indulge in my fondness for pop culture and do some good while I'm at it!

Take a moment to check it out. And keep your eyes peeled for my byline, coming soon!

Another Fabulous Website: CaringBridge

I feel like I've been posting a lot about websites lately, but there are so many great free resources out there to help people, I can't help but get excited. This whole "Web 2.0" movement, as I am coming to understand it, has the potential to do such great things and enrich people's lives. It brings out the best in good people who sit at their computers wanting to do good things for the world. Who can argue with that?

Case in point: CaringBridge. It seems as if this website has been around for about 10 years, and I sorely wish I had known about it when my stepdad was sick. The site (and the non-profit organization that runs it) provides free websites to "support and connect loved ones during critical illness, treatment and recovery." Whether the critical time stems from a cancer diagnosis, a car accident, a complicated pregnancy, or anything similarly serious, this site allows for the creation of an interactive website with features including an online journal/blog, guestbook, photo gallery, an online communities so that the families on CaringBridge can reach out to each other.

When my stepdad John was sick, I remember sending out mass email after mass email, adjusting each email depending on the group to which it was sent - my mom's family, my dad's family, my college friends, my coworkers, my mom's colleagues. I didn't mind doing it, but there were many other things I could have been doing with that precious time. It would have been amazing to be able to have a website where we could post just once to update everyone, and be able to show John the guestbook entries written in support of him.

Well, if it couldn't happen for us, I'm glad that 100,000 other families (!!!) have used this service, and I hope that this organization continues to thrive.

To donate to CaringBridge, click here.

LIVESTRONG Indeed

As far as I'm concerned, the Lance Armstrong Foundation can basically do no wrong. I deeply admire how Lance has embraced his survivorship and committed himself to helping others through their cancer journeys. Now, the LAF has launched LIVESTRONG.com, a health, fitness and lifestyle site.

This site is fantastic! It includes a variety of articles on every topic you can imagine. You can register with the site to engage in its online community, set goals (or, as they call them, "dares") for yourself, and track your progress. The Dares include everything from "Drink more water" to "Spend time with family" to "Complete a triathalon."

There is also a section called "The Daily Plate" which offers nutritional information for specific foods, an online food diary, and interactive feedback. So cool!

So while this site (and thus, this post) is not directly cancer-related, I am all for *free* resources that help you, as my friend Sarah says (courtesy of Oprah), "live your best life." This is the one shot we get, and this is the one body we get, so we need to pamper ourselves in health, life, and love.

SU2C on Facebook!

If you are getting as into Stand Up To Cancer as I am...

And you are on Facebook...

Become a fan of Stand Up To Cancer on Facebook! Woohoo!

SUTV

Ok so I have been poring over the Stand Up To Cancer website and I am loving every bit of it! It has been a long time since a cancer initiative has gotten me so riled up.

There are some fabulous clips, both serious and not-so-serious, in the SUTV section of the website.

So far my faves are the PSA and the Daily Show cast. A to the Mazing.

And I will freely admit that I think part of why I am so excited by SU2C (their clever little acronym) is that so many celebrities are involved - I love the combination of celebs and non-celebs in the PSA, for example. On the one hand, this initiative combines my two passions: cancer and pop culture. But on the more serious other hand, celebrities have incredible power to do good, and it truly warms my heart to see everyone from Tobey Maguire to Susan Sarandon to Lance Armstrong rallying for SU2C.

My fellow colon cancer advocate friends and I would always lament, somewhat morbidly I admit, that no hot, young celebrity has survived colon cancer. There are plenty of young people diagnosed every year, unfortunately. And there are plenty of celebrities who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer (Carmen Marc Valvo, Joel Siegel, Farah Fawcett) too. But colon cancer does not have its Lance Armstrong or its Sheryl Crow or Cynthia Nixon.

So if colon cancer must continue to wait for the celebsurvivor who can take the cause into mainstream pop culture and make it a little more fabulous, at least plenty of celebrities have stepped up - sorry, stood up - for cancer through this amazing initiative.

As Tesco, a supermarket chain here in the UK, has as its motto, "Every little helps."

[Which I always think is missing a "bit"... but whatev. It gets the point across.]

Stand Up To Cancer

This is amazing!

I have just scratched the surface of this website, but WOW. On September 5, 2008, the US television networks ABC, CBS, and NBC are joining together to air a one-hour "interactive television special" that will hopefully raise gazillions of dollars for cancer research.

How cool that this unprecedented joint effort of the three major networks is focused on cancer. While there are plenty other causes out there that merit this kind of attention, of course I believe that cancer deserves it most, as it is a disease that does not discriminate, and attacks at random. While there are certain things we can do that can help ward off cancer, at the end of the day it affects us all somehow. I am thrilled that these networks have recognized the urgency of this cause. Kudos to the Entertainment Industry Foundation for making this happen.

Besides being a celebrity phonathon (ooh! I wonder who will be answering the phones! Makes me wish I were in the States... I will definitely be encouraging my friends and family to call in and donate), the special will also focus on the latest research and advances in conquering this disease.

This is fabulous. I am going back to the website right now to find out more!