Category: Survivor stories

We’re alive: Let’s thank a researcher!

May is National Cancer Research Month, which gives those of us here at Survivors Cancer Action Network a chance to talk about a key piece of our mission. If you’ll notice, our goal is to champion those who have battled cancer in many realms — in their own bodies, in homes with their loved ones, in hospitals and oncology offices, in advocacy work in the halls of government, and in laboratories.

If you’ve been treated for cancer, chances are that there came a moment — maybe a moment of triumph when success was in sight or maybe a moment of utter fatigue when the journey seemed to be taking too long — that you thought about “them.” That is, you thought about those people who had developed this treatment giving you a chance at remission, or a cure, or even just a little more quality time. You thought about the patients who came before you who took a chance on clinical trials that brought your treatment to the market. You thought about the people who tried the “other” treatments — those that didn’t pan out. You thought about your debt to these people you’d never meet or see. And you whispered “thank you” into the air, hoping your gratitude would somehow reach them.

How cool is it that we have a special month set aside to thank them again?

In Birmingham, Ala., Sherri Jackson at CBS 42 gave us a great starting point this week with her wonderful War on Cancer report. Sherri began her story with footage of President Richard Nixon declaring this “war” on cancer.  And while we know there have continued to be millions of casualties, we also know significant strides have been made. Take a look at this report from the National Cancer Institute, and you see how cancer death rates have continued to fall. But, as we all know, there is still more work to do.

And so, as we write this, researchers somewhere are hard at work behind the scenes, looking for that next weapon we can put in our arsenal to use against this terrible disease. They’re our allies, our secret weapons, our hope. They’re the reasons more and more of us are alive to tell our stories.

On behalf of cancer survivors everywhere, thank you.

 

 

 

 

My 2nd Act: Birmingham-area women sought to share their stories of surviving cancer

Calling Birmingham-area survivors with star quality! “My 2nd Act: Survivor Stories from the Stage” is looking for Birmingham area women to share their personal stories about surviving cancer. Auditions will take place at Dawson Baptist Church on Aug. 23 and Aug. 25 from 4-8 p.m.
We know all the stories will be inspiring, but some survivors will be selected to participate in a stage show that will  take place Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. These shows are produced in theaters across the country by the Women Survivors Alliance of Nashville.  A new television series on Vrtuo Interactive Networks  follows the auditions and productions to provide an even wider audience for these wonderful survivor stories!
Go to the website to sign up for a time slot for the Birmingham auditions. What a wonderful opportunity to spread the word: There can be life after cancer! 

CNN: How a family fought cancer together

By Ashley Strickland

In June 2009, Brad and Geri Shepard took their two young children to visit their grandparents, expecting a nice vacation and quality time for the whole family.

But Grandma Shepard was worried as soon as she saw 2-year-old Maddox step out of the car. He looked pale, Brad said. Over the course of the weekend, the normally active toddler was tired, lacked an appetite and developed a fever. The previous month, Maddox had fevers and bruising, which his pediatrician chalked up to viruses and playing at the playground.
Brad and Geri thought they were being overanxious, but Grandma Shepard’s reaction was enough to convince Geri that she should call the doctor at home and request a blood test.
Maddox registered as anemic with low blood counts. After a bone marrow biopsy, it was confirmed that Maddox had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was put into isolation and began chemotherapy immediately. Maddox was scared. His parents were terrified.
“How do you begin to explain this to a child?” Geri said. “At any age, cancer is awful, but for a kid, it’s devastating. They should be having playdates instead of chemotherapy.”
Little did they know, the family’s cancer battle was just beginning.
Brad took time off work and he and Geri took shifts at the hospital for five intense weeks before Maddox could continue his treatment from home. Maddox also had surgery to install a medical port in his chest, which made the chemotherapy treatments a little easier.
They came up with names to make everything less scary for Maddox. Taking his blood pressure became “arm hugs,” his IV was a “necklace” and the clinic he would visit on a weekly basis became “the kitchen,” mainly because he loved to play with the toddler kitchenette set there.
While Maddox was in isolation, their 1-year-old daughter, Danika, was in the care of her grandmother. Normally, she shared a room with him. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t visit Maddox, or that just going to see him in isolation could expose his vulnerable immune system to harmful germs.
The entire family rejoiced when Maddox was able to go home, and the Shepards had to adjust to a new normal. They installed a hand sanitizer machine by the front door, moved medical equipment into the house and had to go to the hospital two to three times a week for daylong appointments. Geri mixed his chemo and administered it each day and night.
“In the beginning, you feel like your child’s life is in your hands,” Geri said.
They settled into a routine: Because of Brad’s work, Geri would take Maddox to the clinic and keep up with his medicine. But if anything went wrong for Maddox after 5 p.m., Brad would rush him to the ER since the clinic was closed. He spent many long, grueling nights making sure his son received the proper treatments.
Maddox couldn’t be around other children or in public spaces, so he and Danika bonded even more by spending so much time together. Still, Geri’s heart broke for her children — Maddox, who was enduring an unbelievable fight at such a young age, and Danika, who couldn’t understand why her brother or parents regularly left without her.
“This is when she should have been at the playground, and so often, siblings of cancer patients are robbed of a time when they can just be kids,” Geri said. “Siblings are the unsung heroes of this fight and they take a back seat, and I know my daughter felt it because Maddox received so much attention.”
The Shepards tried to create a new normal for their children, despite the fact that Maddox lost his hair and Danika struggled to connect with other kids.
A chance conversation during one of their hospital visits led them to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a charity dedicated to funding childhood cancer research. It regularly hosts head-shaving events in honor of the children who lose their hair during chemotherapy, to let them know they aren’t alone.
The events also help families connect with one another to form a support system. They celebrate the kids and their siblings with gifts, parades, games, costumes and the chance to forget what they’ve endured for a little while, Geri said.
“It’s like one big party where adults and even other kids agree to shave their heads in solidarity,” she said. “It’s a simple but meaningful act. And it allows the kids a chance to just be kids and feel special for a good reason.”
In 2011, Maddox was in maintenance phase. He was still on chemo and going to the clinic, but it afforded him a little more normalcy.
Geri and Brad, who had been thinking about having a third child, were watching Giuliana Rancic’s reality show, “Giuliana and Bill.” It detailed Rancic’s struggles with infertility and her discovery that she had breast cancer. It inspired Geri to do a breast exam, just to be sure. She found a lump.
She had it removed, and thought she was in the clear. But the tumor was aggressive and her doctor suggested chemotherapy.
“Life felt unfair,” Brad said. “How could this happen again? We weren’t even through with what Maddox was experiencing yet.”
Geri decided on a moderate chemo plan. She and Maddox were having treatments at the same hospital, and Brad would go from one end to the other to check on them.
At first, Geri was numbed by the diagnosis. She was able to be at home for most of the time while in treatment and continued taking care of Maddox. But she wasn’t prepared for how the chemotherapy would affect her.
“The steroids would change Maddox’s personality and make him irritable, but he was always a happy kid, even during treatment. He went through hell and back, but you would never know it because there was this joy and light in him, so he was always smiling,” she said. “But I had some pretty dark days during chemo and it can really break your spirit.”
Geri endured four rounds of chemo. The effects built up and made her delirious with fatigue and caused her hair to fall out. Brad took care of her and the kids as he continued working. Geri said that she never saw him lose control. She had heard stories from other mothers at the clinic who said that fathers and husbands often “check out” because they don’t know how to handle the emotional toll of a loved one with cancer.
“It only made me appreciate him even more, and I’m so thankful for him,” Geri said.
Maddox and Danika didn’t seem to understand what was happening with their mother, nor did they realize how serious it could be.
Although Geri recalls days where she broke down, Brad saw only strength in her. “She always tried to shield the kids from it and hold herself together. Geri was so strong,” he said.
Finally, in 2012, the Shepard family received good news for the first time in years: Geri and Maddox were going to be OK.
Their treatments had worked, they would be ending chemotherapy and entering remission. Maddox had endured treatment for almost three and half years, while Geri had it for three months, but they ended up finishing about the same time.
Maddox’s Make-A-Wish dream to go to Disney World was finally realized. While he was on chemo, he couldn’t even get in a public pool or play in the ocean.
“Once Maddox finished his treatment, it was like a whole new wonderful world opened up to us,” Geri said. “The first time Brad and I watched our son freely play in the ocean was a beautiful day. As you can imagine, being able to go on vacations again is a simple pleasure that we will never take for granted. In fact, after everything my family has been through, we certainly have a greater appreciation for all that is simple in this life. Our family and our good health, those are the things that truly matter the most to us.”
Although it has taken Danika, now 8, a long time to trust again after feeling abandoned by her family, the once-shy kid is now goofy, funny, outgoing, extremely social and happy. Maddox, 9, is proud of himself for beating cancer.
Geri wrote and self-published a book, “Two of a Kind: The Story of How My Little Boy and I Survived Cancer,” about her family’s journey. But she also wanted other families in similar situations know that they weren’t alone. Initially, the Shepards felt as though this was only happening to them. But the St. Baldrick’s events brought them together with others and enabled Geri to share the story of their family by speaking about their experience.
Brad began shaving his head and raising money on a team of his co-workers six years ago. To date, they have raised almost $100,000.
“Your story just is one of many at these events,” Geri said. “When you can relate to another family, it builds this camaraderie you didn’t know was possible. And every day, it builds more confidence and hope.”
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/11/health/cancer-leukemia-shepard-family-st-baldricks/index.html

Forbes: Millennial Nanny Turned Shark Tank Entrepreneur Stampedes Into 10,000 Stores Despite Cancer

Ky Trang Ho

Building a successful business is as hard as finding the cure for cancer. Now imagine doing it while you actually have cancer. Tiffany Krumins, inventor of the wildly successful Ava the Elephant children’s medicine dispenser, did just that with the help of Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran.

Krumins, a former nanny from Atlanta, struck a deal with Corcoran in thepilot episode of Shark Tank in August 2009. Krumins sought $50,000 for 15% equity in her company. But Corcoran insisted she needed 55% of the business for the amount of risk involved, considering that Krumins had nothing more than a clay prototype of her talking, elephant-shaped medicine dispenser. She had no manufacturing let alone sales. Corcoran reportedly had to invest $285,000 as the costs of bringing the product to market was much more than originally anticipated.

Just a few months after her Shark Tank appearance, Krumins was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 27. While undergoing radiation treatment, the CEO and founder of Ava the Elephant® Brand continued to work eight to 12 hours a day from her hospital bed.

Ava the Elephant had its first manufacturing run in April 2009 and sold for $9.99. It was packaged in three languages and distributed in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia at more than 10,000 retail outlets including Amazon.com (AMZN), BabiesRUs.com, Drugstore.com, CVS Pharmacy (CVS), Kroger (KR), Safeway (SW), and Walgreens.com (WAG).

Sales the first year totaled approximately $170,000.  Revenue stampeded to $500,000 in 2011 and  were projected to soar to more than $1 million in 2013 with the addition of a second product, according to Entrepreneur.com. Krumins declined to share 2015 sales because she’s currently negotiating a licensing deal and halted production last year.

Krumins plans to sell her products through hospitals and brand promoters as well. A new version of Ava the Elephant along with two new animal characters are set to launch in this summer. She has designed four additional health-related products that are set to launch at the end of 2016.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2016/04/08/millennial-nanny-turned-shark-tank-entrepreneur-stampedes-into-10000-stores-despite-cancer/?utm_campaign=Forbes&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_channel=Leadership&linkId=23245063#7c027e9c287a