Fuck cancer.

JCbride2015

Too many Knotties have cancer.  This fucking sucks.  I want to donate some money and/or walk in a fundraiser.

What organizations do you all support?  Is there anything we can do with multiple locations that lots of Knotties can participate in if so inclined?

jdluvr06

Maybe we can organize some sort of multiple-location walk or something.

slothiegal

I'd love to be a part of this and will help in anyway I can.  Brainstorm time!

blabla89

Fuck cancer so, so much.

I like CancerCare, they provide support services for cancer patients and loved ones.

JCbride2015

@blabla89 I haven't heard of CancerCare, I will look into them.

What about walks or events that have multiple locations-- like Avon or Komen?  I have heard less than great things about Komen's financial management.

It would be cool if an event was happening simultaneously with several different physical locations, but I don't think that's how most of these things work.

Several of my friends are active in Relay for Life and really like it.  Anybody have experience with them?

jdluvr06

I'm not sure how it would work either. Haven't some knotties mentioned that they've helped organize fundraisers before? Maybe some of the could give us some advice.

doeydo

I usually walk and/or donate to the Terry Fox Run every year.  

CrazyCatLady3

Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is big in my area and has events in multiple locations (some are specifically organized to travel to) but I have not had personal experience with them.  I know they have fundraising minimums in order to participate though.

http://www.teamintraining.org/

theexactlee

I lost someone I loved dearly to lung cancer a few years ago. Learned a lot about it too, like there is a huge percentage of people who have never touched a cigarette that still die from lung cancer, just like my friend. We used StandUp2Cancer for his donations. 

http://www.standup2cancer.org/honor

daria24

Oops posted on the wrong thread. Team in Training is a good option, but they mostly do training for half marathons and full marathons. Their fundraising minimums run from just a couple hundred dollars to $2500+, for high demand events like Disney races.

They also do a Light the Night campaign that is like Relay for Life.

There are a lot of groups similar to TNT, depending on your area. I would do your research though and find out how the money is distributed-in NYC we have a small organization called "Chemo Comfort" that makes care packages for patients undergoing chemo. You may want to support an organization like that, vs a major national non-profit that mostly funds research, outreach, campaigns, etc.

Jells2dot0

I just have to say it again: FUCK CANCER!!!

I hope to see the day when there is a cure.

mrs4everhart

100% agreed. There's nothing I loathe more than cancer. It's an asshole of a disease. 

lkristenj

Fi works in a toxicology lab and one of his clients is working on a cure option. Probably won't make it to human trials (way too much risk with this treatment as it is now), but it's something. People work on it every day and there are always new ideas and innovations. I think it's awesome that FI could have potentially indirectly helped cure cancer. I lost two grandparents to cancer. It never gets easier to understand. Edited to change "cute" to "cure" and "in" to "it". Autocorrect.

PrettyGirlLost

STBMrsEverhart said:

100% agreed. There's nothing I loathe more than cancer. It's an asshole of a disease. 

As a molecular biologist who works in a cancer related research core, I can tell you that I hate the academic bureaucracy, and all of the ego's and territorial "dick wagging" that occurs that just keeps us from doing the research more than the actual cancers we are trying to treat.

Aray82

jdluvr06 said:

Maybe we can organize some sort of multiple-location walk or something.

I was just thinking that. There's quite a few walks for local and national organizations and treatment centers in the fall so even if we can't all do the same one on the same day we could still start a thread for a training/check-in group or something?

Aray82

After seeing quite a few things that patients need and could use improvement at my local treatment center, I'm more inclined to do something for a local organization rather than a national one, or at least a local chapter of the American Cancer Society. I'll be doing the run for and supporting any event that goes to my local cancer center after this. Also, I'm officially naming the summer of 2014 as the Summer of Shitty Medical Events.

mrs4everhart

PrettyGirlLost said:

STBMrsEverhart said:

100% agreed. There's nothing I loathe more than cancer. It's an asshole of a disease. 

As a molecular biologist who works in a cancer related research core, I can tell you that I hate the academic bureaucracy, and all of the ego's and territorial "dick wagging" that occurs that just keeps us from doing the research more than the actual cancers we are trying to treat.

I cannot even begin to imagine. It must be maddening and frustrating and damn near impossible to remain professional some days!! I'm committed to staying positive about my Mom's treatments and she is doing really well, I just hate that some days I'm haunted by that old Chris Rock monologue about there being no money in the cure, all the money is in the "comeback." It's a damned pessimistic view of things but deep down inside I wonder sometimes how much of that is true, and how much else is fueled by ego and territorial disputes. Keep up the good work @PrettyGirlLost!

pinkcow13

I used to do Komen, but yea I heard some less than stellar things about them. I have always wanted to do the Avon walk, and that spans across different places, so maybe we can try that?

erollis

The bigger ones like Komen bother me. It seems more about the hype of helping people out.

I'm all for donating or doing something for a smaller/ local charity/research.

Jells2dot0

shrekspeare said:

My family has been longtime supporters of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I think they're one of the better cancer centers in the states. They were kind enough to squeeze my grandmother in to an appointment when she was down here for my wedding, and are working with her doctors up at Oregon State. They also worked with the Mayo Clinic on my maternal grandmother when they thought she had cancer.

I have been slacking because I've been trying to get DH into clinical trials for his diabetes. But I do support Be the Match as well, and am a donor on their list. I don't think a lot of the organizations are particularly 'straight' so to speak. Susan G Komen is one that people do a lot of fundraising for, but hardly any of the money seems to go to research.

 Really the only thing I can think of would be some sort of gofundme or something similar to help pay for the treatments for the Knotties.

I'm working with the Mayo Clinic for my treatments. They are excellent and I will be donating to them and leaving a planned gift.

PrettyGirlLost

If you want to donate, donate to the actual cancer centers in your area or those near it- John's Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Center, MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering, etc.

That's were the actual research and clinical trials are being done. Very little of the money raised for those large national organizations trickles down to fund actual resrarch. Most gets tied up in administrative BS