With You, We Stand - 12/15/09
Bryant Gumbel
Last week, Gumbel, host of HBO's Real Sports, revealed that he was recovering from surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his chest cavity, near his lung. According to his spokesperson, Gumbel's prognosis is good; the tumor was not in the lung, as some previously believed. Gumbel was one of the first sports announcers to make the switch to general entertainment. His spokesperson added that he'd be back to work without missing a show.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-12-08-gumbel-tumor_N.htm
Rachel Flotard
Flotard, the lead singer and songwriter of the band Visqueen, took a break from her music for several years to care for her father as he fought prostate cancer. After his death in April, she threw herself into her music again, and Visqueen's new album Message to Garcia is full of songs she wrote during his illness. Surprisingly uplifting and upbeat, the album kept her "alive and normal during a completely abnormal time," Flotard says. You can hear some of the songs at the link below.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121402293
Chris Pablo
After battling cancer for 14 years, Pablo, a tireless advocate for cancer patients, recently passed away at the age of 59. He worked for 15 years as director of public affairs for Kaiser Permanente before going on to work in health policy law, and "gave hope to countless others with cancer, telling them they can survive and be productive." Among other things, Pablo arranged organ donor drives and worked with fellow leukemia patients to help them get through their treatment.
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20091210_chris_pablo_advocate_for_cancer_patients_dies_at_age_59.html
Joni Jasterzbski
After surviving stage IV breast cancer, Jasterzbski, of Wayne, New Jersey, was inspired by the random acts of kindness of total strangers she experienced during her treatment. Now she's "paying it forward" through the same organization that was so good to her, working with an organization called Hearts of Hope that provides hand-painted ceramic hearts and notes of support to cancer patients. "This past year has been incredibly hard and very draining emotionally for me and my family but creating these hearts has filled mine right back up with hope," she said.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/health/78940007.html
As always, we welcome you to share your stories in the comments below.
Posted by Marsha | December 21, 2009 8:24 PM
My mom was diagnosed, two years ago, at age 86, with a malignant breast tumor. Fortunately it was caught at the early stage and she only had the tumor removed, did not need chemo,only radiation. The previous year, her mammogram was clear.Thanks to her "without-fail" yearly check ups,it did not go any further. She used to say " I cannot believe that at my age, I still need to go to the doctor's and expose myself naked.
Thank you for yearly exams.