Saturday, February 2, 2008

Another Hard Post to Write


Today I learned of the passing of LiveStrong Summit participant Holly Young, 22. Holly was a member of my table- # 75. (For 3 days in October 2006 in Austin, Texas eight hundred cancer survivors discussed the needs of cancer survivors and what can and should be done to improve survivorship .) Holly was from Cape Cod and was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma at the age of 18 while at the University of New Hampshire and playing volleyball. I am sure she was chosen to attend the LiveStrong Summit because of her work pressing her state department of health to examine the link between an Air Force radar station and the high number of cancer patients on Cape Cod. In a ten year period there were 8 children and 1 adult diagnosed with cancer. In December the study was completed and did not find a link between the station and the high cancer numbers. By the way the normal number should be 2 in a 10 year period.


Holly was a sweet young lady who was committed to finding a cure for cancer. She raised funds for the Dana Farber Institute and worked with the Red Sox to raise money for research. On her MySpace page she said "Live strong means more than wearing a yellow bracelet," she wrote. "I've done my very best to live strong every day of my life".

Holly is the second person from the right with the black sweater.
In other news, Brian ( 3rd person from the left) visited CINJ and his doctor said there is something there but that "he caught it too early". So they are waiting until his March check-up see what happens next. His blog is http://canceradvocacy.blogspot.com/





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