The LCA is “the only non – profit organization dedicated solely to patient support and advocacy for people living with or are at risk for the disease.”

            Their mission is “to lead the movement to reverse decades of stigma and neglect by empowering patients, elevating awareness, and by changing health policies.”

            The LCA offers many different types of programs:

-Patient Empowerment Programs: (just a few for examples)

1) Phone buddy program – a free peer to peer mentoring program that matches survivors                                       and caregivers.

2) Lung Cancer Alliance Times-a quarterly newsletter distributed to patients, caregivers, families, etc.

- National Awareness:

1) No One Deserves Lung Cancer Tour Bus- a mutli – city tour that raises awareness

- Health Policies:

1) Educating state and federal policy leaders

2) Working with more than hundreds of volunteer advocates in more than 20 states.

3) Developing relationships with various organizations dedicated to addressing lung cancer.

            I discovered through looking around on their site that they are associated with the Lungevity Foundation. There are various standard tabs that talk about news and events, donations, facing lung cancer, etc.

            I was looking around on the site and clicked on a link titled, “Lung Cancer in the News”. I found this great article titled, “November is Lung Cancer Month” (which I did not know), by: Sue Eber.

            The article listed some facts that I had already come across and then there were some that I hadn’t seen yet. Here are some of them:

 - “Lung Cancer is second leading cause of death behind heart disease.”

- “Lung cancer in people who haven’t smoked is the sixth largest killer in the U.S.”

- “There is no diagnostic screening for lung cancer.”

- “Despite the high mortality rate, lung cancer receives the least amount of funding for research. Dollars for prostate and breast cancer outstrip funding for lung cancer by as much as 10 to 1.”

1) Lung Cancer Alliance; retrieved 11/1/09 from http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/

2) Sue Eber (2009); “November is Lung Cancer Month”; retrieved from http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/opinion/article_1583bc6a-c5a4-11de-b36f-001cc4c03286.html

Video #2 of 3

Video #3 of 3

            I was looking on YouTube, originally for videos about alternative cancer treatments. I stumbled across a series of videos titled, “Lung Cancer: Through the Eyes of My Children” and all I have to say is, “Wow”.

            As I have stated before, I am the daughter of a lung cancer survivor. My father having lung cancer is by far the hardest thing I have ever gone through, so of course the title grabbed my attention. I couldn’t help but take a peek.

            The videos were shot in 2006.

            Video #1 is an introduction to the story. The cancer patient is named Susan L. DeWitt. She was the mother of three children: Cody who was 19, Gabrielle who was 13, and Gia who was 4.

            Some of the videos overlapped with information but they were all very moving. It was mainly interviews done with the two older children and lots of family photos documenting the journey.

            After a trip to the hospital, the children were told on January 9, 2004 that there mother had lung cancer. They were not able to do surgery because the tumor had spread, so they decided on chemotherapy.

            After treatments, the cancer had gone away but in September 2004, after a trip to the hospital for a headache, it was discovered the Susan had brain cancer.

            She eventually had 4 holes put into her skull to allow laser surgery to kill the cancer cells.

            She also ended up with a hole in her lung from one tumor, along with another tumor that wasn’t going away.

            I found these videos to be so relatable and very heartbreaking. There was definitely not a dry eye as I watched these videos. Quite a few times I had to pause them because it was just so overwhelming to hear these kids speak of what their mom was going through.

            What really struck me was that the two older children, especially Cody, were so concerned about each other and their young sister. Throughout the videos, Cody repeatedly kept saying it was so unfair for his little sisters to have to watch their mom go through it, and he was worried for them that they might have to grow up without a mother.

            Cody said numerous times that it is always said that the hardest thing for a parent to do was bury a child. He said that the hardest thing a child should never have to do was watch their parent die a slow, horrible death.

            I really related to Cody when he talked about his mom being there for his graduation from high school and that he wanted her there for the many important events to come in he and his sisters’ lives.

            I remember crying because I was engaged and I wanted my dad there to walk me down the aisle; to see me graduate and succeed in life; to finally make my parents proud. It was really tough.

            There were many facts in the video that were just so overwhelming:

            – “Lung cancer has a 15% survival rate.”

            – “Lung cancer will kill twice as many women than breast cancer this year.”

            – “There are roughly 3,000 deaths each year from second – hand smoke.”

            – “Health care costs for smoking related diseases add up to $75 billion a year.”

            – Lung cancer causes more deaths than breast, prostate, colon, liver, melanoma, and kidney cancer combined.

            At age 39, Susan Dewitt was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. She says that at that moment she knew that God’s plan for her was to start a foundation which is dedicated to raising the awareness and prevention of lung cancer and to save other families from the types of events that she and her family had been living through.

            With that, Susan Dewitt created “The Susan L. Dewitt Foundation for Extended Breath.”

            Susan L. Dewitt lost her battle on October 3, 2007 at the age of 43.

1) Cheryl Miller; “Susan L. Dewitt Foundation for Extended Breath”; retrieved 11/1/09 from http://www.susanldewitt.org

            Lungevity Foundations was started in November 2000 by 7 lung cancer survivors:

            – Kay Barmore

            – Marge Breit

            – Patti Helfand

            – Gayle Levy

            – Dick Pemble

            – Dena Winick

            – Melissa Lumberg Zagon

            Through diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, these patients learned that although there is a lot being done for research, there is not much being done to save those when they are diagnosed. This is mainly due to lack of funding.

            And so we have the Lungevity Foundation.

            Their mission is, “to increase lives and to ease the burden if lung cancer on patients and their loved ones.”

            Through the foundation’s website, you are able to train and sign up to do walks. On the website, click on the “Events” tab. It will give you areas, grouped by state, for you to choose from.

            Lungevity Foundation was voted the fasted growing charity in the United States for 2009 by Charity Navigator. Since starting in 2000, they have won  numerous awards.

Number of awards:

2002 – 2                                              2006 – 8

2003 – 3                                              2007 – 9

2004 – 3                                              2008 – 17

2005 – 9                                              2009 – 5

* To see a list of the names of all of the awards, go to Lungevity Foundation website and click on “About Us” and then “Foundation History”. About 3 paragraphs down it says “co – funding more than five million dollars….” in blue highlighted text. Click on that and it will provide you with the long list of awards that the foundation has won over the years.

1) Lungevity Foundation (2009); Retrieved 11/1/09 from http://www.lungevity.org

This is where CancerCare comes into play. “CancerCare is a non – profit organization that provides free, professional services for anyone affected by cancer.

CancerCare was founded in 1944, and in the past year alone has provided help to more than 100,000 people, along with the more than 1 million visitors to their websites.

The first thing that I found with this site was that it is one that is comforting and at the same time easy to navigate. I feel that certain websites can be almost intimidating because they involve the medical field.  The information can get pretty confusing with the overwhelming amount of information that is provided.

When you initially go on the website, there are three categories that you can choose from: Patient, loved one or friend, or physician.

If you click on “patient”, it gives you a break down and a brief description of some of the services provided counseling, support groups, educational workshops, publications, and financial assistance.

CancerCare offers limited grants for expenses related to treatment, which I think is really important for patients who may have limited or no health insurance, or have financial issues in general.

If you click on the “friend or loved” one tab, it provides you with links for much of the same information.  It also gives you information on how you can help your family member or loved one get through this tough time, and additional services for if you have recently lost a loved one to cancer.

The last thing that I found, that I have to say “I LOVED” was the CancerCare “Virtual Wall of Hope”. You click on the link provided and it takes you to this wall that people post messages on. There are messages from patients, family members, etc. The messages are ones of hope, sadness, experience, etc. I just think this is amazing because it shows people that they are not alone.

Words are a very powerful thing.

CancerCare (2009); “The VIrtual Wall of Hope”; retrieved from http://www.cancercare.org/wallofhope/

            Let’s take a look at both sides of the argument.

       I found a site of testimonials produced by WAMM (The Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana) that strongly believes that marijuana does serve a medical purpose to help aid in comforting those with cancer, and also may help cure it.

            The first point that the site talks about is the fact that medical marijuana can help with pain and nausea associated with chemotherapy and radiation. Smoking marijuana will take less time to go in effect than if someone swallowed a pill. Also, many patients have difficulty swallowing pills and keeping them down.

            Another positive effect of smoking marijuana for cancer patients is that it stimulates their appetite which is important in order to gain strength and combat wastes in the body.

            The THC (delta – 9 – tetrahydrocannabinol) found in marijuana is linked to improving moods vs. many of the pills that are prescribed which cause bad/flat moods, drowsiness, etc.

            Over 18 studies done between 2001 – 2003 showed that cannabinoids (active chemicals of marijuana) help reduce the size of many cancer cells by increasing programmed cell death in tumors, and by reducing angiogenesis or increased blood vessel production.

            For these reasons and many more, many people feel that medical marijuana should be legalized in the United States.

            But then there are those who do not feel this way.

            A website provided by Harvard University called “The Medical Dangers of Marijuana” promotes the belief that marijuana should not be used for medical purposes until it is further researched and monitored. Here are just some of the reasons why.

            Smoking marijuana can damage cells that protect against inhaled microorganisms and decrease the ability of lung cells to defend themselves.

            Smoking medical marijuana can accelerate or aggravate disorders. For example, marijuana use can weaken various natural immune mechanisms. Well, for people with diseases like AIDS, that attack the immune system, this is really bad.

            Also, smoking marijuana can be linked to certain cancers like those of the lung, oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx.

            Something that I found interesting was the fact that smoking marijuana is connected to many mental disorders, starting from something “simple” like a panic attack all the way to schizophrenia.

            In fact, there are so many mental disorders related to marijuana that they have their own category in the “Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV” by American Psychiatric Association. Some of the disorders include:

            – Cannibus Intoxication

            – Cannibus Intoxication Delirium

            – Cannibus Induced Psychotic Disorder, Delusions

            – Cannibus Induced Psychotic Disorder, Hallucinations

            – Cannibus Induced Anxiety Disorder

         From reading all of this and checking out both of these sites, which side are you on in the fight to legalize medical marijuana? I think I changed my mind.

1) WAAM (2008); Aging and Cancer Using Medical Marijuana; retrieved from http://www.medical-marijuana-testimonials.org/Aging-and-cancer-medical-marijuana.htm

2) Harvard University (2009); Health Concerns: What are the Medical Dangers of Marijuana Use?” retrieved from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/evidence99/marijuana/Health_1.html

              The NCI site is such a helpful website that I was fortunate to come across. There is so much that this website has to offer. They offer a hotline number (1 – 800 – 4 – Cancer) and a link to click on for Live Help Online Chat where a specialist can give you help for questions on cancer, and also information on quitting smoking. Also, there are links to other related pages like, “NIH Senior Health: Lung Cancer” and “PDQ – NCI’s Comprehensive Cancer Database.”

The NCI also has links to other general cancer resources. Some of them are:

1. Coping with cancer- managing side effects and complications caused by cancer and treatment.
2. Support and resources- info about cancer support organizations, finances, insurance, home care, and hospice care.
3. Educational materials about clinical trials- types of trials, how they works, risks and benefits of taking part.
4. Complementary and alternative medicine- healing philosophies, approaches, and therapies used in addition to, or instead, conventional cancer treatments.

You can also find some information located directly on the website. You are able to find information on:

-        treatment

-        prevention, genetics, causes

-        screening and tests

-        statistics

-        research and related information

-        cancer literature

-        clinical trials

This website also offers an online booklet, “What You Need to Know About Cancer”.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/lungs

1) U.S. National Institute of Health; Retrieved 10/12/09 from http://www.cancer.org

                Cancer is something that when it comes down to it, I really don’t know a lot about. But I want to. There is a history of different cancers in my family, and with this recent scare, I figured now is as good as time as any to educate myself. Hopefully, my findings will educate you in some way also.