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With May being recognized as National Cancer Research Month, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance has launched an initiative to persuade some of America's 100 million daily coffee drinkers to donate the cost of one cup of coffee towards cancer research.
Join the movement and kick your cup for cancer research today!
For all of the support you give to charities, walks and events against cancer, do you ever wonder if you are really making a difference in the fight against this seemingly invincible enemy known as cancer?
The answer is this: Yes! Every donation in the name of cancer research is important in the continuing fight against this foe. As of 2007 and 2011, Congress even stepped up to the plate to help recognize May as National Cancer Research Month alongside the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
I’d like to take a moment to thank Rebecca Arnautovic, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance’s Advocate of the Month for April. Rebecca has been incredibly active and visible in our Facebook community and continues to help spread the message of the MCA, while lending her support and knowledge to others affected by cancer. Beneath is an interview with Rebecca about her own experience with cancer and how that has shaped her way of life.
MCA:
Has cancer affected you in some way? If so, in what way? Tell us about your experience.
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Today, April 28th, marks the international Workers’ Memorial Day. Observed each year, it is a day for remembering fellow workers who have been hurt or killed on the job and a day to renew focus on the efforts to continue to work towards safer working conditions for all.
This year also marks the 41st anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) being formed, which works diligently to advocate for jobs with safe working conditions and support for unions. Since the inception of this administration, the death toll of workers on the job has decreased but approximately 4,500 workers still die each year from their working conditions.
Asbestos: a fiber that is 700 times smaller than a human hair, yet it kills 90,000 people a year. Asbestos exposure can cause the deadly disease known as mesothelioma, an aggressive, yet preventable, disease.
Please help raise awareness of mesothelioma by sharing this video and help advocate the banning of asbestos use in the United States.
Many families today have members facing one of the most lethal cancers, mesothelioma. The cancer occurs due to exposure to asbestos and is the most serious of all asbestos-related diseases. Once considered rare, more and more people are now being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Asbestos can lay silent within the body for years before presenting itself as mesothelioma, and even then symptoms mimic common ailments making it very difficult to diagnose. This is one of the many reasons why the disease is so deadly. Asbestos also has the ability to spread from host to host, carried and transferred via clothing. Mesothelioma is a frightening reality and these stories tell how the disease affected the lives of patients and their families.
The Donnelly Family
What is Asbestos?
According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), asbestos is “the name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals used in certain products, such as building materials and vehicle brakes, to resist heat and corrosion.”
On March 5, 2012, the United States Senate passed a resolution (S. Res. 389) recognizing the first week of April as “National Asbestos Awareness Week.” Sponsored by United States Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the resolution hopes to raise awareness of asbestos-related diseases – including mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer – and the incredible danger asbestos exposure poses to health.
A naturally occurring set of minerals, asbestos was once widely used in all manners of manufacturing including ship building, plumbing and building materials. Due to its manufacturing prevalence, asbestos caused many to develop mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that affects the linings of the lungs, abdominal wall and heart. Further, asbestos is known to cause asbestosis, where scar tissue builds up in the lung around the area in which asbestos fibers become lodged.
The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance would like to take a moment to thank Kelly Diaz De Leon, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Advocate of the Month for March. Kelly has been a big contributor on our social community by offering support and words of wisdom to others affected by cancer. Below is an interview with Kelly about how Mesothelioma affected and changed her way of life and why she continues to spread the message of MCA.
MCA: Has cancer affected you in some way? If so, in what way? Tell us about your experience.
In honor of March being the National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance would like to highlight the importance of cancer education and prevention. Sadly, mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that occurs in the lining of the body’s internal organs, making for a difficult recovery. However, colon cancer when discovered early is highly treatable and preventable.
It is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and paying attention to your body and what it tells you can be the difference between a good and poor prognosis. A persistent cough or blood in your stool is a sign that something might be wrong. Play it safe and make sure to get annual check ups. Also, when turning 50 to get a colonoscopy--It could be what saves your life!
On Christmas Day, 2009, George E. Donnelly received crippling news. A day for celebrations and laughter with family turned tragic as his life, along with those of his wife and three children, hung by the barest of threads.
A little more than a month earlier, George and his wife, Pauline (née Callaghan), traveled to England for a much-needed and deserved vacation. During their time overseas, George noticed that he was struggling to catch his breath, and when he did breathe deeply, there was pain, unusual for someone who took extraordinary care of himself.
Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance survivor advocate, Heather Von St. James, will be hosting a fundraiser in support of mesothelioma research on Saturday, February 4th. Established around the anniversary of Heather's successful 2006 mesothelioma surgery, the fundraiser will support the International Mesothelioma Program, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, and Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization. We spoke with Heather about the event below.
MCA: Why are you raising money for mesothelioma research?
This picture, presumably of a young girl with cancer, was one of the most retweeted photos on Twitter for the week of November 27th, 2011
Each December, many of us spend hours in malls and other retail outlets agonizing over ensuring we’ve got every last person on our holiday gift listcovered. In the world of a cancer patient and caregiver, December is likely a somewhat different experience. Often the holidays serve as a reflectivetime when we choose to cherish our time with family and loved ones and re-kindle our fond holidays memories.
Just as their holiday experience is somewhat different, many cancer patients, caregivers, and their loved ones adopt a different approach to holidaygiving this time of year as well. Below are a few exciting programs that aim to not only convey a message of love as any gift is intended, but also tofund cancer treatment and research.
The Following is a guest post from Tricia Cardone detailing some great holiday recipes for those battling a difficult illness like cancer
Struggling to find that perfect gift for that special person battling cancer in your life? We’ve got you covered!
Not only do we have the top holiday gift ideas, but we’ve also provided a thorough list of every other fantastic gift that will surely put a smile on anyone’s face.
The following is a guest post from Rob Harris. Rob's wife is a two-time cancer survivor. Rob has been with her to assist in her care throughout her journey with cancer. We'd like to thank Rob for sharing his thoughts on the holiday season with the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance from the unique perspective of a caregiver.
My name is Rob Harris. I am a husband, a father (to two Army officers, one currently stationed in Afghanistan) and human resources professional. What do I do in my spare time? I am a caregiver, a caregiver coach, and a soon-to-be published author, with my books geared to helping those that are caregivers to loved ones.
For much of the month of November the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance has been highlighting thoracic oncologists, causes studies, support groups, and other events associated with Lung Cancer Awareness Month . As the month draws to an end, it is our hope that the awareness we’ve been generating and the message of those we’ve spoken will not simply be lost as we turn the month to December. It is only through a continued commitment to lung cancer treatment and research funding, in December and beyond, that we’ll finally be able to reach the long-awaited cure for this difficult disease.
One needs only to look at the facts to understand the truly global health crisis that lung cancer presents. In the United States alone, lung cancer will be the primary cause of death for 437 people each day.
When lung cancer strikes, cigarette smoking is often blamed for its development. However, notes the American Cancer Society, of the 170,000 cases or so of lung cancer diagnosed each year in the U.S., some 10 percent of those cases are among those who never smoked a single cigarette. In those individuals, other causes of the disease – like exposure to secondhand smoke, radon, or asbestos – might be part of the picture. Nevertheless, the disease remains the number one cause of cancer fatalities in the United States.
While the causes of lung cancer remain a concern, the real cause for concern is not why the cancer appeared, but what can be done to fight it, stress medical professionals like Dr. David Sugarbaker, Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Boston’s <a href=">Brigham and Women's Hospital. A 1979 graduate of Cornell University School of Medicine, Sugarbaker understands that one of the biggest obstacles to treating lung cancer successfully is the fact that it’s often not detected until it’s quite advanced, when treatment options are limited.
The United States Center for Disease Control noted that in 2007, the last year for which accurate figures are available, more than 158,000 people in the United States died of lung cancer. The risk of developing the disease, they note, increases with age and is greater in men than in women. Though the incidence of the disease has indeed decreased in the last decade, lung cancer still remains a major concern…especially for medical professionals such as Dr. Anne Tsao who – each day – sees the ravages of the disease firsthand.
Dr. Tsao is considered one of the nation’s top experts in the treatment of thoracic cancers, which includes all types of lung cancer and other lung-related cancers such as malignant mesothelioma, which generally affects the pleura, which is the lining of the lungs. Tsao, a graduate of the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine, is an Associate Professor in the department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and is also the head of the hospital’s mesothelioma program.
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