October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hello Everyone,

Roxanne is my wife and we decided to post this:

As you may recall, the San Diego Breast Cancer 3 Day is coming up in November....just a few short weeks away. Roxanne's team OB Walkers-Breast Defenders just passed the $100,000 mark in fund raising for this year. As you might remember every walker must raise $2300 to walk in this incredible event and a few of the team mates are still running a bit behind. As October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month we are wondering if you can help out by doing your special magic and help us raise some more awareness and money this month.
There is another team closing in on us fast and we would hate for them to "get to camp" as the #1 fund raising team.....you know the drill.
Check out the team!
http://www.the3day.org/site/TR?pg=te...&team_id=54151
Roxanne will let you know who is short of funds and who already has 'checks in the mail' also some of our team are non-fund raising Crew.....

Roxanne's direct email is obwalkers@att.net if you have any questions, concerns, or comments.

We thank you for reading this and look forward to the day a cure is found.

By the way, if you have been watching any NFL games I'm sure you have noticed pink being worn by players and coaches in celebration of this month and cause.

Regards,
John & Roxanne

Here's one of the very best articles I've seen on the topic of cancer. Worth a read, and worth saving on your computer. One day, you will need it for yourself or a family member.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/218235/page/1

Four years ago, almost to the day, I sat in a surgeon's office in Falls Church VA with my wife and listened as the doctor told me I had inoperable cancer and would be dead in 18 to 36 months. I never went back into his office again.

Dr. Mike Choti, Surgeon at Johns Hopkin's Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center saved my life. He's a Rock Star. The Right Guy, The Right Place. I am cancer-free right now, and no signs of recurrence.

My favorite quote from that article:

"For tough surgeries, you want the guy with steady hands who's been in an impossible abdomen, knows the no-fly territory and what he can get away with".

Duane,
Great piece. A definite must read for everyone! Thanks.
Regards,
John

I just opened this email from my wife:


Dear John,
As you know I have been participating in The Breast Cancer 3 Day since 2006. This event has captured me in a way that I could never have imagined before hand.

I have developed friendships and partnerships with so many incredible people over the past 4 walks, this one now seems to surpass the rest.

I am honored and delighted to be part of opening ceremonies again this year carrying the "Best Friends" flag in honor of my Best Friend and 10 year survivor, Carol Fuller. My team mate Luke Himebaugh has the distinction to carry the "Sister" flag in honor of his sister, Shayna, who he walks for. AND now I just found out that Kathy Cannon will be in the "Survivor Circle" as a flag bearer as well. 3 individuals from 3 very different places, all carrying the torch to extinguish breast cancer, all wearing the OB Walkers-Breast Defenders t-shirt on opening day during opening ceremonies. I feel so honored and so grateful for the wonderment of this event.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me, walked with me, and encouraged me throughout this journey.

Roxanne

My wife Roxanne just received the following email. Needless to say I am very proud of her, her efforts, and the entire team and their efforts. The San Diego 60 Mile 3-Day is this week, Nov 20 - 22. San Diego's is the largest (most participants) of all the 16 national 60 Mile 3-Day walks and the last. People come from all around the country and the world to walk. We'll be giving a temporary home to two women from Kansas City prior to and after the walk. Most of the women and men spend Friday and Saturday night of the walk in a village of tents along a stretch of Mission Bay, a huge public aquatic park. If you have ever been to San Diego you have probably visited it. Thank you for reading this post. Hope one day we will cure ALL cancers.
Regards,
John

************************************************** *******

Subject: Congratulations!


Roxanne,

I just received the official report we use for announcements. Well done!
Hold your head high; your team will be recognized for being:

Top Overall Fundraising Team

AND

Largest Team


We’d love for as many of your team members as possible to be in the Dining Tent on Friday evening (try to sit near the stage!) to stand and receive recognition and applause when the announcement is made! The stage show begins at 6:30pm, so it should happen shortly after that.

I believe we’ll prepare two baggies of pre-counted Legacy pins to hand to you in the 3-Day Café on Friday evening after the stage announcement.
So your team can wear them proudly from that moment on and relish the rewards of all of their incredible efforts!

Thank you so much, Roxanne. I wish there was a special Heart & Soul award; you certainly deserve one for all of the love you put into your team!

Warmly,

Staci

Staci Roos
San Diego Breast Cancer 3-Day
Field Coordinator
Phone: 858.693.4017
Fax: 888.392.0288
sroos@event360.com
www.The3Day.org
“Life should not be measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.”
Anonymous

Strong Work! Money for cancer research raised by private individuals is going to give us the cures for this devastating disease and ALL cancers. It won't be government money - it will be private donations raised through events such as these.

I just got off the phone with one of my 'patients' husband whom I coached for cancer treatment. He was SO excited and happy that he was on the verge of crying on the phone. Doctor Micheal Choti of Johns Hopkins wheeled her out of surgery at 1 p.m. today (start time was 7 a.m.) and got all the cancer. Found the elusive primary tumor that her other docs said could not be found. Told her husband "I got it all". I'm feeling honored to have got the very first phone call after surgery - she's not even awake in the ICU yet. He told me that had I not coached her over the past few weeks, she wouldn't have had it done. Doc C. told him 'it was just like Duane's'. She's got 72 hours of feeling really crappy to go through, but by Sunday she will be feeling a lot more human again.

That's Nine for Nine I've got to go to Choti in the past four years, and he's saved them all with complete cancer removal. This is a hellva surgeon - I kid you not. I continue to be amazed by the surgical skills this man possesses. He's a Rock Star. So many doctors tell patients like us we're doomed - with a death time line and then here comes Choti on the job.... slice ya-dice ya -sew-ya-back-up and you're good to go like it was no big deal at all. It sure as heck is a big deal to go from terminal to cured. Makes your head spin, it does.

I'm so happy to be able to play a very small part in all of this. I'm just at the coaching end of it all as a patient advocate - but its really a great feeling to work with someone who is scared to death and a jumble of nerves - and help walk them through to a successful conclusion. Makes all the hours on the phone worthwhile (and they came to my store last Saturday for two hours to talk as well). I told her husband to go savor the moment and go get some lunch before she wakes up in the ICU. The worst is past.

Mike Choti is THE MAN. If you ever get a gut cancer - he's the one you want to see. If it were not for him, there would be no Furniture Forum, because I would not be here.

SPECIAL PEOPLE.....there's just too damned few!