Defense Appropriations Bill - OC Research $

Chairman Murtha of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee announced on July 30th that the Defense Appropriations Bill has been marked up. The bill includes $25 million for Ovarian Cancer research. There bill still needs to go to the full committee and be approved. Then it goes to the full House to be approved and then approved by the Senate. But it is a start. Thanks to the NOCC for keeping on top of this bill and to everyone who asked their elected officials to support increased funding. The bill also included $150 million for peer-reviewed research for breast cancer, $80 million for prostate cancer research and $25 million for lung cancer research.


LiveStrong
Dee

Three Years!

Three years ago today was the day I was diagnosed with Stage III Ovarian Cancer. July 29,2005

Today I went to see Dr Gibbon, my gynecological oncologist and the surgeon who operated on me. We caught up on family news and I shared photos of my daughter's wedding. We talked about how I was feeling and my stable CA-125 result. Then it was time for my least favorite part of my visit but incredibly important internal exam. After the examination she smiled and said everything was good and to see her in 3 months!

Another 3 months to LiveStrong. Great news for me and my family.

Dee

LiveStrong Summit 2008- OSU Stadium and Heading home

We took lots of photos at the end of the Summit by the stage and out in the lobby. Since our plane did not leave until 5:20pm a few of us decided to leave our bags put and walked over to the stadium for the second time. This time we were able to view the field. The stadium looked even bigger from the inside. We returned to pickup our bags , got on the bus and headed out to the airport.

On our arrival we learned that most flights were canceled. They were having some strong lightning strikes and high winds in the Newark area. Our Continental flight was not even listed on the sign at that point. So we had a bite to eat and headed to the gate. Sure enough we get there and are told the flight is delayed. Our plane was in Boston and scheduled to go to Newark before it got to Columbus. The delay actually brought together some other NJ LiveStrong delegates that we had not met before. At 6:30 they announced that they were putting a plane that was in Newark into service for our leg of the trip. We headed on the plane around 10 and got to Newark around 11:30. The ride was a bit bumpy but we had one of the best landings I've ever had. It was good to be home and share with my husband the great things we did at the Summit.

Dee

LiveStrong Summit- Day 4- Closing Ceremony

Sunday was another sunny day. We checked out of our hotel, dropped our bags off at Weigel Hall and went to breakfast under the tent outside of Mershon. The final session began with the Track recognition awards. The winning commercial from each track was played and they were awesome. I am biased but I think our pink track was the loudest!

The closing session was a panel discussion with Dr Bernadine Healy, Dr Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Gordon Gee. Sadly, Dr Gee lost his son-in-law in an accident in PA during the Summit. He shared with us a moving description of how his son-in-law died in a "magnificent way". ( My condolences to the Gee family.)

As the event ended and the lights came on after survivors spoke on stage I felt sad. Sad to leave my friends from the 2006 summit. Sad thinking about Holly ( Cape Cod) who was at my table in 2006 and was no longer with us. Sad that Dr Pausch had died. Sad to have to say goodbye to my new friends.


Working to make Cancer a National Priority!
Dee

More to come

I will finish reporting on Day 4 tomorrow. After my doctor's appt.
Tired but LivingStrong
Dee

LiveStrong Summit- Day 3 Stephanie Spelman and the Zoo

Our Saturday morning started with a keynote speech by Stephanie Spielman , wife of Chris Spielman NFL linebacker. She spoke of her battle with breast cancer and how she started her foundation and raised $1 million in 6 months.

During the morning session our advocacy tract learned how to approach leaders, recruit others to our cause and how to use persuasion tactics. We were asked to write a an "elevator "speech to persuade an elected official to make cancer a national priority. Jorges gave an incredible speech linking cancer as a priority to the Declaration of Independence. We were also asked to write a letter to our senators to support the Access to Clinical Trial Act.

For the afternoon we learned about vote counts and how to identify talking points when speaking to elected officials. Then it was simulation time. Each person in our group was asked to speak to a senator about supporting a bill to increase funding for cancer. I had to speak to Senator"St. John". We did not know how our senator would respond and we only had 3 minutes to make our point. I happened to get the toughest senator - she basically told me "No" . So politely I left her my hand made business card and thanked her for seeing me.

As other groups were finishing up Kevin and I walked a few blocks and visited the Ohio football stadium. Now that is one large place. I thought the Lane stadium was large but this one is even larger.

We returned to our track's meeting in time for the awards ceremony. My pink moose group won the Unity award. As we headed toward the buses we met Linda Armstrong, Lance's mother. She is a very nice woman who posed for photos and chatted with us.

After a 30 minute bus ride we arrived at the Columbus Zoo directed by Jack Hanna. We had dinner and then were given tickets to the zoo which was open until 9 that night. I saw the tiger, red pandas, penguins, manatee , elephants , rhino but was sad that the koala was all curled up in the tree asleep for the night.

LiveStrong
Dee

LiveStrong Summit- Day 2, Pink Moose

After having a light breakfast we headed into the Mershon Auditorium for the opening session. We heard Dr. Richard Carmona, the 17th Surgeon General of the US. He spoke about the new National Call to Action on Cancer. The document gives steps you can take to take to reduce your risk for cancer.

After Dr Carmona's speech, the breakout sessions started. We took a walk through the OSU oval and ended up at Postel Hall where our PINK track on advocacy was meeting. Mandy Ellerton from Grassroots Solutions was our track leader. After a talk about "power" we broke down into smaller groups. I was part of the pink moose- Go Moose!( bring both hands to you head and spread your fingers like a moose's antlers)

In the morning , we learned how to plan a media event and we listened to the LiveStrong Army Upstate(SC) leader talk of events that she held.

After lunch we were charged with making a 60 sec commercial about why cancer should be a national priority. Each group was given small video cameras and we started outside to begin talking about what should be in our commercial. We were all really focused and started shooting - even enlisting one of the food cart people to help us out. When we brought the camera inside we learned that the commercial had to be filmed all at once. Back outside we went to try to reproduce the commercial- amazingly we were able to complete it in record time. We all watched each group's commercial. It was incredible that each small group of strangers could produce such outstanding work in 40 minutes.

The regular day ended back at Mershon.In the middle of the lobby area, we got a chance to meet Dr. Sanjay Gupta from CNN. He was nice enough to allow his photo to be taken with Kevin and to talk to Alycia on the phone. (Thanks Dr Gupta for being so approachable.) That afternoon we heard Doctor Freeman, Ralph Lauren Cancer Center, was the doctor who started the patient navigator system. He gave an inspiring talk.The photo is of Lance and Dr Freeman

As the LiveStrong Army - Central Jersey leader, I attended a dinner sponsored by the LAF for all Army Leaders throughout the world. It was a fun gathering at the Buckeye Hall of Fame restaurant. I got a chance to meet leaders from Nevada, Oklahoma, Georgia, South Carolina , Hawaii, Rhode Island and Germany. I also caught up with Courtney another OC survivor who I met in Austin in 2006.