Report on Benefit for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Event

Mwee

That I was lucky enough to be able to attend today in Syracuse, N.Y. When I was invited to attend, I had no idea that it was going to be such a huge event. There were 250 guests, a fashion show, local TV personalities and politicans and some very interesting speakers. Jon Zeidman, Director of Development of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) spoke about the importance of developing a reliable early detection test for OVCA. He told us that he lost his grandmother to OVCA and about the organizations effort to recruit young doctors who are going into cancer research to choose to work on ovarian cancer.

Jenn Sommermann, a stage III ovarian cancer survivor, is a triathlete who's goal is to run a triathlon in all 50 states and raise $100,000. before she reaches 50 years old. She has completed 31!! www.jennsommermann.blogspot.com

As you can probably tell, I came away energized and in awe that there are so many families that are touched by this disease and willing to help all of us teal warriors who are battling now and will have to fight in the future.
(((HUGS))) Maria

poopergirl14052

way to go!!!!!!!!!!!
sounds like a successful event. It is about time this horrid disease gets some funding and awareness,,,good job Maria. Keep sprerading the news ,,people are finally listening..val

Mwee

forgot to mention...
Jon Zeidman also told us that for every woman in the US who is diagnosed with breast cancer, $19,000 a year is spent on research and with each of us who are diagnosed with OVCA, that number is $4000. We have our work cut out for us.
(((HUGS))) Maria

clamryn

That was awesome
Maria I am so glad you got to go. That is just wonderful. It is good to hear that there are those that are trying to help us.

Linda

clamryn

Mwee said:

forgot to mention...
Jon Zeidman also told us that for every woman in the US who is diagnosed with breast cancer, $19,000 a year is spent on research and with each of us who are diagnosed with OVCA, that number is $4000. We have our work cut out for us.
(((HUGS))) Maria

This makes me sad
I knew this in my heart, I just didn't want to hear it. Kind of makes me think we are second class and we get what's left. I am praying for the future. A future where there is awareness and a cure. Cancer is cancer, no matter where it is in your body. I pray that all cancers are treated equally.

(((hugs))))
Linda

AnneBehymer

Mwee said:

forgot to mention...
Jon Zeidman also told us that for every woman in the US who is diagnosed with breast cancer, $19,000 a year is spent on research and with each of us who are diagnosed with OVCA, that number is $4000. We have our work cut out for us.
(((HUGS))) Maria

Can't we just share
Maria,

I don't like those numbers it makes me feel like all donations for cancer should be put in togeather and then be share equaly with all cancer. It really does feel like our cancer is not that important and if we liver or dies does not matter either.

Love, Hugs, and Prayers
Anne

kikz

clamryn said:

That was awesome
Maria I am so glad you got to go. That is just wonderful. It is good to hear that there are those that are trying to help us.

Linda

Glad to hear
about any efforts made toward finding cures or better treatment for this disease. I think the money allocated is based on numbers. I remember seeing a Phil Donohue show in which people with a little known disease could not even get medication that would help them because the pharmaceutical companies didn't want to bother producing a drug that would only be sold to such a small number of people.

Everyone who is ill wants to get well and deserves the best treatment available. We know that is not a reality but we don't have to sit still for that. I continue to pass out teal toes cards and tell my story but it never seems like enough. I am always amazed how little women know about this disease.

Maria, I am glad you had such a positive experience.

Karen

lovesanimals

kikz said:

Glad to hear
about any efforts made toward finding cures or better treatment for this disease. I think the money allocated is based on numbers. I remember seeing a Phil Donohue show in which people with a little known disease could not even get medication that would help them because the pharmaceutical companies didn't want to bother producing a drug that would only be sold to such a small number of people.

Everyone who is ill wants to get well and deserves the best treatment available. We know that is not a reality but we don't have to sit still for that. I continue to pass out teal toes cards and tell my story but it never seems like enough. I am always amazed how little women know about this disease.

Maria, I am glad you had such a positive experience.

Karen

Thank you, Maria
for reporting back to us and for participating in an event that helped to raise much-needed awareness for our cancer. Sounds like you had a very good day!

Kelly

msfanciful

This is great, but alas;
This is great, but alas; you're right, it seems these
days that pink is the new "in" statement?

We do have a lot of work to do, but little by little and
bit by bit, together we can eventually get the word out.

kayandok

Great job, Maria!
Thanks for the update. Would love to hear about what you shared, even a condensed version, when you have time.
You chalked up a win for the Teal team and I will go to sleep smiling at the image go this event and imagining you up there sharing your story. Thank you, Maria!
Hugs,
Kathleen

Radioactive34

Cool....

Cool....

carolenk

Radioactive34 said:

Cool....

Cool....

Maria, you just gave me
Maria, you just gave me another reason why you are a hero (or should I say heroine?) of mine. Just like the Energizer Bunny, you just keep going!

At the risk of being "unpopular," I'd like to comment on the inequity of funding for ovarian cancer vs breast cancer. First of all, ovarian cancer is considered a rare cancer whereas breast cancer is much, much more common. I for one would like ovarian cancer to stay that way (or just be prevented altogether). So, there are lots more breast cancer survivors & even more people (donors) who know women with breast cancer...you get that point.

The other consideration is that ovarian cancer survivors do benefit from the research done for breast cancer...eventually. I am always interested in the latest news about emerging therapies for "triple-negative breast cancer"--especially for late stage & metastatic cases. Those therapies just might help US out, too.

Triple-negative breast cancer seems to be the most difficult breast cancer to treat/cure & it has a high recurrence rate (sound familiar?). OK, that's all I have to say about that...for now. ; )

Mwee

carolenk said:

Maria, you just gave me
Maria, you just gave me another reason why you are a hero (or should I say heroine?) of mine. Just like the Energizer Bunny, you just keep going!

At the risk of being "unpopular," I'd like to comment on the inequity of funding for ovarian cancer vs breast cancer. First of all, ovarian cancer is considered a rare cancer whereas breast cancer is much, much more common. I for one would like ovarian cancer to stay that way (or just be prevented altogether). So, there are lots more breast cancer survivors & even more people (donors) who know women with breast cancer...you get that point.

The other consideration is that ovarian cancer survivors do benefit from the research done for breast cancer...eventually. I am always interested in the latest news about emerging therapies for "triple-negative breast cancer"--especially for late stage & metastatic cases. Those therapies just might help US out, too.

Triple-negative breast cancer seems to be the most difficult breast cancer to treat/cure & it has a high recurrence rate (sound familiar?). OK, that's all I have to say about that...for now. ; )

thank you so much
for your kind words. I am an energizer bunny, but the heroes here are Frieda and John Weeks who run Hope for Heather after losing their 24 year old daughter who was ironicly working for Gilda's Place. I, also, understand completely why breast cancer is recieving a much larger slice of the cancer research monies. I thought it would be interesting for all of us to know how the research dollars are being spent. I'm going to include the web addresses for OCRF if anyone wishes to check it out.

www.ocrf.org
www.facebook.com/OvarianCancerResearchFund
www.twitter.com/OCRF (((HUGS))) Maria