CONNECTIONS / SNIPPETS

A Walk to Remember

Photo by Stewart Harvey Photography

Cancer survivors and supporters pick up balloons in Portland, Ore., at the World Trade Center for the city’s ninth annual Light the Night Walk — one of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s fundraisers held across the country to benefit leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research. Registered participants who raise $25 or more receive an illuminated balloon to carry on the walk — white for cancer survivors and red for supporters. The Portland walk, held this fall, had 3,000 participants and has raised $286,000 so far. Visit www.leukemia- lymphoma.org.

How Do You Connect?

Join Heal magazine on MySpace (www.myspace.com/healtoday) to connect with other cancer survivors in our virtual community online. Post a message there to let us know what you are doing in your local survivor community to connect, reach out, heighten awareness or raise funds. Here are a few other organizations that help connect cancer survivors online:
> American Cancer Society Cancer Survivors Network, www.acscsn.org
> OncoChat: Online Support for Cancer Survivors, Families and Friends, www.oncochat.org
> Association of Cancer Online Resources, www.acor.org/mailing.html
> CancerCare, www.cancercare.org/get_help/online.php
> Shared Experience Cancer Support, www.sharedexperience.org

Phoning It In ...

> CancerCare holds free Telephone Education Workshops throughout the year. Browse the calendar of upcoming workshops such as the Dec. 7 “Medical Update on Pancreatic Cancer.” Past workshops are available as podcasts, including “Living Each Day With Lung Cancer” and “Living With Colon Cancer” workshops held in November. See www.cancercare.org.

> The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship will hold a teleconference Dec. 11 titled “Cancer Survivorship Research: A Dialogue with Advocates, Survivors and Caregivers,” featuring Julia Rowland, PhD, director of the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Survivorship. Visit www.canceradvocacy.org/news/events.aspx.

> The American Association for Cancer Research is holding free public forums during two upcoming AACR conferences, one focusing on cancer health disparities in minorities (Dec. 1 in Atlanta) and one about cancer prevention (Dec. 8 in Philadelphia). See www.aacr.org/home/survivors--advocates.aspx.

> The Sunstone Cancer Support Center plans an Equine Retreat for cancer survivors and their children Jan. 24-27 in Tucson, Ariz. The Tucson center also hosts a Living With Hope Support Group for survivors, families and caregivers. See www.sunstonehealing.org.

> Joan’s Legacy Lung Cancer Foundation will hold its next Kites for a Cure on Jan. 26 in Pompano Beach, Fla. The inaugural event, held last May in Southampton, N.Y., raised more than $52,000 for lung cancer research. See www.joanslegacy.org/past_event.html.

A Head of Their Time

		William Doyle (left), with his father, Greg, and brother, Tom, takes part in a head shaving at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in July benefiting St. Baldrick’s Foundation (www.StBaldricks.org), which raises funds for childhood cancer research. William, 9, was diagnosed with pleuropulmonary blastoma at 11 months and again at 4 years.
Photo by Enisha Narang/St. Baldrick's Foundation

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