runDisney recap

If you follow me on social media, you know that I recently ran a thing called the Dumbo Double Dare at Disneyland in California. It is comprised of a 10k on Saturday followed by a half marathon on Sunday. When I mentioned this to my friend, Mike, who is an experienced runner, he said, “That’s not really advised.” LOL… that’s kind of the point. For the record, he was also one of my biggest donors! Maybe because he understood how crazy this was! It’s a challenge that breaks the “norm”, well, unless you are a runDisney runner. And then the challenge is something that might happen 4-5 times for you this year!

A good portion of Team Fired Up’s crew for Disneyland weekend.

We have been fundraising using the runDisney events for several years now. It took us a while, but we have built an amazing community with these runners. It’s a very long weekend – did I mention we have to be onsite around 3:30am each day? But it is filled with the kind of triumphs you only see at the end of a long, hard path.

I’m always amazed at our runners, especially our challenge runners, because of what they put themselves through. MANY people (thousands, actually) do this just for “fun”, but a small percentage of them do it for others. Those are the charity runners. They run for Dragon Master Initiative, Give Kids the World, American Cancer Society, and others, and they do it to make those miles – both in training and on the course – count for something bigger than themselves. Running takes a lot of time, so this is a way for them to really put a purpose behind those hours.

I have never been a big runner, but I started training in 2023 to take part in the Dumbo Double Dare. I did it because I wanted to do something big to honor what would be David’s 30th birthday, but I also did it because I wanted to show our runners that I wanted to be one of them. We are a team. And even though my job is normally to support them through their race, just this once, I wanted to really commit to running alongside them. That meant that Richard had to be the race crew chief, and he really did an outstanding job! I wouldn’t have felt comfortable missing out on those finish line moments if he hadn’t stepped up to take charge of medals for me. One of our runners, Amber, stepped in to help him, and of course, Sarah was there on the day she wasn’t running.

I didn’t dream that as part of that commitment, so many others would stand with me. From the moment of registration, which I wouldn’t have even gotten without Sarah, I had so many people sending me good vibes, training tips, and donations. My friend, Jena, immediately signed up to run the half to show her support. She was afraid she couldn’t do it, but she crushed it! My friend AnaLiza had already been bitten by the runDisney bug, and she made this one of her races for the year. Can you say Coast to Coast?!? Ana’s training has been on point!

My daughter, Austin, checked in regularly and told me she was proud of me. (You read that correctly! How often do you get a chance to do something your kids are proud of?!?) My other friends, who were just going to volunteer, saw we had some open bibs and jumped in to do the half as well! Not everyone finished, but everyone made an effort for the team and we will see many of them back and future races. Garret, Shawna, Bill, Rebecca, and Terri had all cheered, but then also ran and all laid it on the line for these kiddos.

I also have to give a shoutout to Terri and Maria for making amazing signs for the volunteers to cheer with. It was so easy to spot Rich and Denise out on the course with those custom signs! What amazing folks they are for coming to Anaheim just to cheer on the team! Adam and Ana Liza both spoke at our team dinner which took a lot of mental pressure off of me. Truly a gift!

The race also brought me closer to our runners in ways I couldn’t imagine. Leah made me a custom running plan, which mostly served to show me how far behind I was, haha! It was a very valuable tool, though, and I’m sure I would have slacked off a lot more if I hadn’t had that. Monica, Jocelyn, Jerry, Sara, Jon, Erin, Richard, Lisa, Patti, Deb and many others gave me encouragement from their very experienced viewpoints. Sara’s advice may have also included how to pose for pics, but I still haven’t mastered that one!

Overall, though, the year of training gave me an outlet to really focus on my mental capabilities. The self-talk we let run in our heads can be the thing that pushes you forward or holds you back. I really learned to focus on how to overcome obstacles, set small goals (thank you, Jeff Galloway!), and most importantly, run your own race! That is, unless you are Melinda and Stephen, who chose to give up “their” race and run mine with me. Spending 3 1/2+ running with someone just to make sure they hit their goal is a special kind of sacrifice. They were amazing! I’m sure I have not done justice to the level of support from my community. Please just know that this was a very special year filled with amazing friends who stepped up in countless ways to make sure I could achieve this goal.

Stephen and Melinda, wearing their Aloha gear to honor David, with me at the race starting line.

From being a person who didn’t run at all, to being a person who ran 30k in a weekend, I want to encourage you to set big goals for yourself. It’s really great mental training, and the physical aspects aren’t too shabby either!

Also, a few thoughts on running with a charity:

– Find a charity that you are passionate about. It will really bring more value to the experience.

– Commit to your fundraising goal as well as your running goal. The charities depend on these funds to carry out their programs, and they have hard costs associated with every spot on their team. (My goal was quite a bit over what the required goal was because I want to get to $30,000 for David’s 30th. You can still donate here for a few more days.)

– Sign up early and meet your other runners. It really does make the experience more fun when you know some folks running for the same cause. If you want to run with us, we have a few spots open for the Springtime Surprise race in April, or if you want more time to plan, fill out our request form for the 2024-25 season here.

If you are thinking about running, please let me know! I’d love to connect with you and help you figure out a good way to get started. And if you are one of our team members reading this, thank you, thank you, for being our people. Love you all!

Blindsided

Here’s the thing about grief, it doesn’t care what you’re trying to do. You can be walking along, living your life, pretending things are nearly as good as they used to be, when it just comes around a corner and blindsides you. You think you can manage and then, wham! It brings you to your knees.

Today, I flew to Pittsburgh for meetings tomorrow with doctors who are sharing their data. I’m excited about it because it gives me an inside look at how the CBTTC member hospitals collect and send in their data. There’s just one little problem. It’s also the hospital where we were told the clinical trial wasn’t working for David. It was the beginning of the end, and we all knew it.

I thought it would be ok. After all, when we left Pittsburgh, David felt great. We were still in that crazy world where they tell you your child is dying but he looked fine, felt fine. And as long as you have a treatment plan, you feel like you might beat the odds. And then comes the smack down.

In many ways, we are so appreciative of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. We’ve told them that – at meetings that were far from the building I’m going to tomorrow. I know that we had more quality time with David because of the work they did. But somehow, being back on the streets that we traveled with him, it felt like he should still be here. I mean, every day, it feels like he should still be here, but somehow it was just so much more overwhelming being back here.

It made me think of the many friends I have who spend their days in hospitals where their children died. They get up each day with the resolve that they will make the day a little brighter for a family traveling the path they know too well.

When I think of that, it makes my days seem easy. When I think of that, I know I can face tomorrow with a smile for those who have dedicated their lives to trying to save our children. The truth is, none of us want to be in that room tomorrow. None of us want to be dealing with the reality of childhood cancer, but we lift each other up and do what we need to do to try and save lives. Until there are cures for all.

Breaking the silence

So much of what happens to cancer families happens in silence. You may see social media posts, but they do little justice to the minute by minute terror that is constantly plaguing these families. A recent post by a Facebook friend gives a pretty good picture of the reality, so I’m sharing it in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Day 18: madness

Watching your child lose their abilities day by day, or even faster, right in front of you. Seeing the incomprehension in their eyes and, besides showing love and hollowly saying everything will be ok, not being able to truly make anything better.

After your child’s tumor progresses and your doctors stop returning your calls. True that they don’t have any more answers but so heartless nonetheless.

Hearing the stories of friends and family who came over to cook meals, clean house, babysit, take photos, launch fundraisers, play music, spend countless hours doing research and speaking with doctors on that other family’s behalf..then comparing this to your own reality.

When after an hour of coaxing and coddling your child manages to get down the pills you hope could help extend their life only to throw them all up immediately after—bad hiccup timing or stubborn refusal? The outcome is the same.

Being denied clinical trial access and off trial medications that could extend your child’s life, due to bad timing, lack of clout carried by your medical team or more often the company/trial’s cold blooded decision to prioritize obtaining future data points over the life of your child.

Cackling madly to the ceiling when faced with yet another setback, ankle deep in the latest bodily fluid that needs disposal before you can even begin thinking of cleaning your house that looks like a) war zone b) crime scene c) hoarder’s lair (pick whichever fits best).

Dug deep furrows in both wrists watching my love get re-radiated today, head bolted tight to the machine, as we fight two tumors this, our last, time around.

Finally dozing off to sleep before being jarred awake by a bizarre sound coming from my child’s throat which sounds like ghastly choking, only to be reassured by the tone of her voice (words are now too indistinct to understand) that she’s actually ok, it was nothing.

These are just a few of the stones in the DIPG path that trigger madness.

This is how it feels at the moment….and my beloved child is still here, for now.

The alternative is unimaginable.

How weird are you?

This article makes a really good case for big data analytics in medicine. (Which is the heart of what we are working on.) It essentially says that we all have gene mutations making us each much more unique than scientists previously thought. It is really only through compiling vast numbers that we might be able to see some patterns emerge. 
This applies to cancer research, but it can also apply to all sorts of other medical conditions. Have you ever had a doctor tell you that your response to a drug shouldn’t cause the reaction it caused it caused in you? That’s kind of the same thing. A drug might do different things to you than to other people because of your unique genomic composition. If you’ve ever dealt with a reaction like this, you know how frustrating it can be. Now imagine your reaction is the difference between life and death. Pretty important, right?
We are laying the groundwork that will help people navigate these situations. Chances are, it will be you or someone you love that needs the answers. Help us now, so we can help you later.

One Small Gesture CAN Change the World

Today is the halfway point in the Revlon Love is On Challenge. We have raised over $21,000, which far exceeds any online fundraising we have done for Dragon Master Foundation in the past. It shows that we are growing as a foundation and that people are starting to really understand and support our mission. I really wanted us to be at $50,000 by the end of the day today, though. Hitting $50,000 today would mean that we have a guaranteed pitch meeting with Revlon to promote Cavatica — an open access data platform that will dramatically improve the cancer research process. We have until midnight. I haven’t given up hope.

My heart may be broken, but I don’t want yours to be. 

There are literally thousands of people who have the potential to read this message. If each of them donated only $10, we would far exceed our goal. There are many times in this life that we are helpless. We sit and watch as good people die from a disease that seems unstoppable. I’m here to tell you that it is stoppable. We are seeing breakthroughs with precision medicine efforts, but if we want them for everyone we must take action. Precision medicine initiatives are only as good as the data that drives them. You’ve seen the photos. Right now, a family sits with their child knowing there is nothing else to be done. For those of us who have been there, there is nothing we wouldn’t do to keep you from knowing that pain. Wives continue on without their husbands because a nasty beast stole them away right in their prime. Children grow up without mothers because cancer stole them from their family.

This project has the potential to help all of mankind. I don’t expect you to devote your life to it. I know you have jobs and kids and other responsibilities. All I’m asking is that you realize what an amazing opportunity this could be for all of us, and maybe skip that extra meal out this week. Donate two days worth of Starbucks to our cause — TODAY. I promise you we will make the very most out of that donation.

You can donate here: https://www.crowdrise.com/DragonMasterFoundation-Revlon2016

Helping Orlando

This week has renewed my faith in humanity. It’s so easy to sit by and watch the world slowly spiral out of control, but it’s really not hard to make it stand still, either. when you are told there is nothing more they can do for you loved one, be it your child, your mother or your husband, your world stops. But only for a moment, and then it starts falling. The more time that passes, the faster it goes. You’re hurtling toward an abyss with nothing to slow you down. With a lot of help, this week, we were able to slow that time down for a family who is so desperately looking for a cure.

Orlando is a sweet 11 year old boy who lives in our hometown. He has two sisters and a brother, and a family who loves him very much. And the local doctors told the family it was time for him to go on hospice. No more options. But that wasn’t acceptable to his mom, Lacy. She kept searching for a way to save Orlando. There are no guarantees in the fight against brain cancer, but she found a treatment that offers Orlando some hope. Some more time. But that treatment was half a country away.

Dr. Santosh Kesari has been working with brain cancer patients for his entire career. From Harvard to UCSD, he has gone where the research took him, searching for better treatments for people with brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma multiforme, which is what Orlando has. In the past few years, he’s had some success with a drug called Everolimus. Everolimus (Afinitor Disperz) got accelerated approval for  subependymal giant cell astrocytoma is adults and children in 2012. Afinitor Disperz is the first pediatric formulation to be approved by FDA for the treatment of a tumor that occurs primarily during childhood. (In layman’s terms, astrocytomas turn into glioblastoma multiforme, so that is why this drug is a possibility.)

You can see some of the results Dr. Kesari has had via this article:

http://abc7.com/health/doctor-improves-cancer-teens-health-with-game-changing-approach/1175310/

I know it seems like something that has been FDA approved since 2012 should be common knowledge, but the 5 year study results haven’t been out that long. (Five year study results: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26381530) With brain cancer, you really need a doctor who is paying attention to the very latest studies to try and gain as much quality time for the patient as possible. Dr. Kesari isn’t just paying attention  – he’s one of the ones paving the way.

But finding a possible treatment is just the first step. Dr. Kesari needs to evaluate Orlando in person to make sure this is indeed a viable treatment option for him. (All other labs and scans would indicate that it is.) 

With brain cancer, the clock is such an enemy, but treatments like this give us real reason for hope. On Orlando’s behalf, we reached out to the community for help to get him and his mom to California to see Dr. Kesari. Thanks to Brad Pistotnik Law and  a very generous offer of the use of a jet, we will be able to get Orlando and his mom to Santa Monica on Monday. We found out yesterday that there is enough room for Orlando’s sister to go, too, and we are so happy that she will be able to be there and give him moral support. They are only 15 months apart, and they are very close. 

There will be additional expenses for this family while they are split up trying to care for Orlando and his siblings. Dad is staying in Kansas with the two youngest children, but he works so they need additional childcare. Orlando’s meals will be at the hospital, but there is no coverage for his mom and sister for food. Also, this is an “out of network” hospital, so there will be higher medical bills.

Dragon Master Foundation recently adopted a change in our bylaws to be able to help families in this situation. A brain cancer patient can be sponsored by a person or community, and donations can be raised to directly help that person. The first person to benefit from this new program is Orlando. If you would like to help the family with expenses, you can text the word “cancer” to 91999.

If you can’t help financially, please share this story and join our Thunderclap, an effort to help win a million dollars for cancer research. You can join the Thunderclap here: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/44920-love-is-on-to-conquer-cancer

What A Rollercoaster!

Like a rollercoaster as the last car eases over the top of the hill, we are hurtling forward after what felt like slow movement. The projects that we have been working on for the last three years are picking up speed. We have said all along that the way to change cancer research is through greater collaboration, and that message was loud and clear at this month’s Cancer Moonshot Summit at Howard University. There was an extremely diverse group of cancer research advocates brought together to hear Vice President Biden’s ideas and then work together to share our own ideas for how to bring about 10 years worth of change in the next five years. I think that idea might have scared some people, but we have already seen amazing advances using the Cavatica platform, so we know that kind of rapid improvement is possible. 

I know that there were many events held around the country, and we even hosted an event at WSU in Wichita, but many of you may not have had a chance to really see what happened during the day of the Summit. I wanted to give you my perspective on the day, and I hope it fills you with the kind of hope I have for the future of cancer and disease research. 

We started the morning with American icon Carol Burnett. She was delightful, as always, and the fact that she took the time to be there with us spoke volumes about how amazing this effort really is. Vice President Biden shared some of his frustration with us over costs and lack of progress, and we learned about some of the goals of the Cancer Moonshot initiative from Dr. Danielle Carnival, Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Director of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force. 

There were several other speakers, all of whom underscored the need for this important gathering and continuing effort by the community. We broke into work sessions for the morning, and I was placed in the “Solving the Technical Challenges to Unleash the Power of Data” group. That was no big surprise! 

I was incredibly humbled by the people in my workgroup. From industry veterans who have been working on making genomic data available like Warren Kibbe to bright, young innovators like Daniel Wagner who are challenging the way we look at and access the data. It was a fast-paced discussion that resulted in some great ideas.

We all returned to the general session for lunch where we could share ideas in a less-formatted way. I had the great pleasure of sitting with Dr. Charles Powell from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Our discussions covered everything from rare forms of Mesothelioma to the latest imaging technologies. There’s nothing quite like watching a doctor get a look at new technology that will help him do his job more effectively, and I had the pleasure of watching that at lunch. It is simply amazing what we are gaining access to through new technologies. We got a great look at how Siemen’s is turning analog scans into digital data that can be used for comparative analytics. That will be great in Cavatica!

After lunch, we heard some great speakers who spoke about collaboration. I think some of these were available on the live broadcasts, and they are available for viewing here:

Then we were off to our afternoon workgroup sessions. My session was on “Data: To What End?” and our insightful speaker to start the session was none other than David Agus. 

We talked about existing collaborations, and I finally had a chance to mention Cavatica, the sharing platform we have been funding. The attendees seemed a little stunned that we already have 10 hospitals not only sharing digital data, but biosamples as well. There was still some sentiment among event attendees that it would be hard to get scientists to share their pre-publication data, but the doctors at the 10 Cavatica institutions are truly putting children, and indeed all humans, first. This level of collaboration may be unprecedented, but it is the wave of the future and that was evident from the number of people looking to learn more about our platform. I was so honored to be able to share about the many hospitals and nonprofits who have come together to build this amazing resource. I believe it could be the model by which all future research is done. 

After a pretty exhilarating working group, we returned to the main hall to hear Greg Simon, Executive Director of the Cancer Moonshot. Dr. Adam Resnick and I got to speak with him for a few minutes after the event was over, and I felt like he was truly trying to pull together all the resources he can to make the end of cancer a reality in our lifetime. 

The event ended with Dr. Biden and the VP Biden speaking to the crowd and asking for a prolonged commitment to working together for cures. I believe we have that commitment from everyone that attended this important event. 

We returned home to find out that we have been accepted into the Revlon “Love Is On” Challenge. This is an amazing opportunity, not only to raise much needed funding for the research platform, but also to raise awareness for the platform and explain how it can improve research around the world. You’ll be hearing a lot from us about this, but there are two things you can do right now to make a huge difference:

1. Sign up for our Thunderclap to announce the contest. We’ve used this before, and it is quick and easy. You give one-time permission to Thunderclap to send out a message on our behalf. The message will ask people to support Dragon Master Foundation in the “Love Is On” Challenge. Sign up here: http://thndr.me/ukBgiJ
2. Sign up as a fundraiser for the “Love Is On” Challenge. This will give you a fundraising page of your own, which will allow you to easily share the challenge with your friends and family. We are asking that everyone make a minimum $10 donation because that is what is needed to count for the contest. Those $10 donations could easily be turned into ONE MILLION DOLLARS if we win the contest. We’ve won social media contests like this before, so we know with your help we can do it again.

 

Where Does the Money Go?

Starting a foundation is expensive. We spent thousands of our own dollars to get the foundation up and running, and even now, our board members regularly pay for things out of their own pockets so that the expense doesn’t fall to the foundation. To date, we have donated over $100,000 toward building this shared database. Our board and our supporters have generously helped us get to where we are today, and we have an exciting opportunity just before us that I thought you might want to help with.

You see, we make connections with people around the world. Telling them about our data sharing project with CBTTC and asking them to help. Our foundation has brought many new voices to the conversation, and that conversation is about to happen in person with at least 15 hospitals and foundations. It’s an expense for the foundation, and we would love your help in sending some of our board members to participate in this momentous event. We need to fly to New Orleans and spend a couple of nights in a hotel. The conference is paying for some of the meals, and typically our board members pay for their own meals while traveling, so that isn’t part of the expense. We are also only covering part of the cost of their flight because we want them to all have a personal commitment to the event. We will have a full day of meetings followed by an evening of discussion. We are taking a videographer with us who can help us share the story of what happens with all of you. 

If you believe that our collaborations are making a difference, please help us get our board to this conference. Every donation to this campaign will be used to further the conversation about the importance of sharing data between hospitals. We’d like to take some branded items with us to help folks remember who we are and be able to reach back out to us as they have more questions after the event. Here’s a breakdown of what I think the expenses will be:

Promotional items $500

Expenses per attendee:

Flights $500

Hotel $480

We have eight people who will take time off work to attend this event with us, so that would be $7,840, plus the $500, for a total of $8,340. That’s not including ticket fees, etc, so I’m setting the goal at $9,000. 

We’ve talked a lot about open access. You hear more and more about the patient experience on the news. All of those words are good, but for the most part, the world is still segregated into the medical community and the rest of the world. This conference is changing that. We will have a room full of passionate advocates sitting side-by-side with the doctors and researchers who need our help. We are building a global team to fight this war on cancer. 

Want to help? We value every contribution! You can see our individual fundraisers and make a donation here.

(Please note that they are just now setting up their pages, so there may be a few more pages appearing over the next few days.)

Brain Cancer Action Month 2016

I had big plans to be super organized heading into May this year, but for various reasons, it just didn’t happen. So here we are, on May 4th (Star Wars Day!), and I’m just now making a post about all the ways you can get involved this month. There was a big event on May 1st in DC, Race for Hope, so I’m sorry for not getting word out to all of you in time to participate in that. It was only the first of many events this month, though, so without further delay, here are some ways you can get involved:

Wear gray. It’s the most simple way to show your support. Grey is a pretty bland color, though, so to really get people’s attention, you might need to draw some attention to yourself. Maybe some crazy hair, or a Hawaiian shirt on top of your grey… something te get people wondering what’s going on with you. 😉 You can even take a gray selfie and enter to win a prize!

Change your profile picture. Make your profile image go gray this month. Need some inspiration? Check out our Pinterest board.

Support on online fundraiser. Maybe you’re busy. We get that. So skip coffee or drinks for one day and donate that money to an online fundraiser. You can find some worthy places to donate at these links:

Sponsor a runner in California here , here , here or here

Sponsor Runners in Iowa

Sponsor a runner in Kansas here or here

Sponsor a runner in Pennsylvania here

Sponsor a runner in Virginia

Go to an event! This one is a little bit trickier because the events are in specific geographic locations, but if you can make it to one, please do! The folks that organize these events put a lot of hard work into them, and it physical events can be a real boost for survivors. I’m listing the ones I could find by date and then location.

May 14th

4th Annual Race for Hope DSM – Des Moines, IA

San Diego Brain Tumor Walk – The Waterfront Park, San Diego, CA –

May 15th

Comedy Night – Hollywood, CA

12th Annual Team Billy Ride & Walk for Research – Saratoga Springs, NY

Boston Brain Tumor Ride – Waltham, MA

May 21st

CureFest 2016 – Humble, TX

Bay Area Brain Tumor Walk  – Crissy Field, San Francisco, CA

Charleston Brain Tumor Walk – Mount Pleasant, SC

I am sure I’ve missed a lot of events for the month due to lack of research time. Do you have an event or activity to share? Please add it in the comments!

#MomentsofMagic

Cancer can be one of life’s most difficult challenges. It has brought more pain to my life than I care to remember, but it has also given me great awareness of the little moments in life. I think it teaches a lot of people about gratitude, frequently in ways we wouldn’t imagine. I know trying to imagine what it is like to live with a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming, especially if you think about it being your child or other loved one. It’s sad and scary, and well, I don’t want to think about it either. But I do want to bring attention to the need for research. I want you to think about ways we can cure cancer. I want you to think about it all the time – like those of us who have been faced with it in our daily lives.

But how can we think about it, and act on it, without being overwhelmed by it? After talking with a lot of folks, I think I found a way to shed some positive light on the issue. We’re going to start a sort of gratitude journal, where we can focus on those little moments that are good, that are special because they are so normal. We want you to see how grateful cancer patients and their families are for those little things.

So here’s what I need from you. I need you to start sharing those moments with me, so that Dragon Master Foundation can share them with the world. We’re going to call them #MomentsofMagic . They can be anything you want – as long as it was a moment that was special to you as a cancer warrior, caregiver, loved one or friend. We’d love to share pictures with the stories as well, so send whatever you would like to share to amanda.haddock (at)dragonmasterfoundation.org.

Together, we can focus on the positive. As Dumbledore would say, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”