So, the first letter speaks for itself and then you will get to hear from another of Nancy's angels, Dr. Lang.
June 29, 2007
Dear Friends,
It has been three and a half years of many surgeries, 12 cycles of intravenous chemo, 6 cycles of intraperitoneal chemo, endless scans, blood tests, hospital stays, trips to doctors, the list goes on. I am one of the lucky ones. Each day I am getting stronger, my hair is growing in, my scans are clear.
Yet, there is still no cure.
Along this difficult journey I have been extremely fortunate to meet and be treated by so many compassionate, caring, dedicated, intelligent and just plain amazing medical professionals.
Last summer Jennifer Lang, MD, UCLA/Cedars Sinai Gynecologic Oncology Fellow, came into my hospital room at a very difficult moment in my treatment. She put me at ease and touched my heart; actually we touched each others hearts. A short time later Dr. Lang told me that she had decided to run a marathon and raise money for women’s cancer research. In between her 16 hour days (mostly 7 days a week) she has trained for and will run the San Francisco Marathon on July 29. She will cover the 26.2 miles to raise money for the Women’s Cancer Research Institute (WCRI) at Cedars Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Lang is doing this for me. For all women.
Please join me in supporting Jennifer’s Run. Read what she has to say.
Open your wallets, your hearts. It all adds up. Every dollar matters
No one should ever have to hear this terrible diagnosis.
Love,
Linda
And here is Jennifer's Marathon Mission Statement:
Linda Gordon lay in her hospital bed, wearing black round-rimmed glasses and a red kimono, and told me a story that changed my life.I had arrived in California just weeks before to begin a fellowship training program in Gynecologic Oncology. Linda was the first patient I had personally been responsible for accompanying through a full course of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy. It’s a tough regimen, and Linda was coping with harsh side-effects. Through it all, her grace and poise, beauty and intellect were an inspiration to me. All of the so-called problems in my own life seemed to melt into meaninglessness when I thought about Linda, and women like her everywhere facing this fight against cancer.
The tools we had to offer her- surgery, cytotoxic drugs, imperfect imaging studies and even more imperfect blood tests for monitoring tumor markers- seemed far from adequate. So much progress has been made in Women’s Cancer, but there is still so far to go.
Linda told me about her wonderful friend Gail, who at age 43 was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Linda decided to run a marathon to raise money for breast cancer research. She did, and handed over a check for $17,000 to a local hospital, where ground-breaking breast cancer research continues to take place. I knew in that moment that I had to run a marathon for Linda. If she could get through 6 cycles of IP chemo (in addition to the 12 cycles of IV chemo she already had), I could damn-well get through 26.2 miles of road.
Dr Beth Karlan, past-president of the Society for Gynecologic Oncologists, and Director of the Women’s Cancer Research Institute (WCRI) at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, has been a role model to me for the merging of compassionate cancer care with cutting-edge basic science research.
The mission statement of the multidisciplinary WCRI is: “To reduce the threat of cancer to women through research, education, early detection and prevention.“
Personally, I’m very demanding of myself and my field:
- I want screening tests that identify women at risk for cancer, or in the earliest stage so that we can prevent disease from taking hold.
- I want medications and treatment plans that eliminate disease without harsh side-effects.
- I want women, the pillars of society, to know that we pledge to do everything in our power to preserve their health and wellness and help them to live long and productive lives.
I chose the San Francisco Marathon deliberately. The road to a cure for women’s cancers will have many hills along the way. This will be the most challenging thing I have ever done. But I know that I will be carried along by the spirit and courage of all the beautiful women who have, are presently, and will face a cancer diagnosis at some point in their lives.
My dear friend and trainer said to me: “If you want to run a marathon, you need a REALLY BIG reason.” Advancing cancer science is the only way that we are going to win this battle. So here’s my “big reason”: I’m running for Linda.
Please support all the women in your life by contributing to this cause.
Jennifer Lang, MD
If you find yourself in a position to be able to donate to this cause and further research on women's cancer, click here for a contribution form and contact information. It is in PDF format so you will need Adobe Acrobat to view and print the form. Click here if you need the free viewer.
And how is Nancy today you ask? Better but still suffering through the major side effects of the two treatments on Tuesday and Wednesday. Her potassium is back up to 3.9 today, the highest it's been since she started chemo I think. She ate a little and is asking for Jack in the Box. We'll hit the drive-thru on the way home ;-)
xoxo
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