OT: LUNGevity 5k

[two3zone]

Hey guys, I usually like to keep my private life private, but I'm trying to help my little sister out here.

I moved from Syracuse to Las Vegas back in May of 2015, after 5 days of being in Las Vegas my pregnant 34 year old sister was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. She is a non smoker and has always been active and always took care of herself, no idea how she got sick.

On the positive end of all of this, she gave birth to her son 6 weeks early and is 100% healthy. My sister has been going through treatment throughout the year and the cancer has not grown. She has stayed 100% positive and keeps very busy, especially with a 5 year old and a 1 year old.

I just wanted to send the link out here to everybody to see if you can help get my sister to her goal of $2,000 to get her to the 2017 National HOPE Summit in Washington DC.

My sister has been my best friend since I can remember, and with everything she's gone through in the past year she's become my hero. I hope you guys are able to help out, thank you! (link below)

Jackie Keast

 

[tee1222]

Sorry to hear, brother. I hope she fully recuperates and will donate what I can. Again, I hope she kicks its butt. But either way, congrats on the birth of your nephew!

 

[Cusefan0307]

Sorry to hear, I hope she's doing better! Will help out for sure!

 

[MG44]

Cancer is horrible and your sister really is a hero for taking on this fight for herself, and future generations. I dont have much, but $44 coming up

 

[two3zone]

Cancer is horrible and your sister really is a hero for taking on this fight for herself, and future generations. I dont have much, but $44 coming up

Thank you so much, it means so much to me and I know it means so much to her.

Cancer is a horrible horrible thing, but I know if there is anybody who can whoop its butt it's my sister.

Thank you again MG.

 

[tee1222]

Done. Best of luck to your sister and family. I hope she gets through this.

 

[two3zone]

Done. Best of luck to your sister and family. I hope she gets through this.

Thank you Tee, it means a lot to me and her!

 

[two3zone]

Just $212 dollars away from her getting the trip to DC, $712 away from her being able to bring a guest.

A massive thank you from me and her to the people on syracusefan.com who donated, she was extremely moved by the generous donations from the members here who've never met her and are helping her. You guys are amazing.

 

[cto]

Done. Sorry I took so long, but somehow I missed this post earlier.

 

[MCC]

Hey guys, I usually like to keep my private life private, but I'm trying to help my little sister out here.

I moved from Syracuse to Las Vegas back in May of 2015, after 5 days of being in Las Vegas my pregnant 34 year old sister was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. She is a non smoker and has always been active and always took care of herself, no idea how she got sick.

On the positive end of all of this, she gave birth to her son 6 weeks early and is 100% healthy. My sister has been going through treatment throughout the year and the cancer has not grown. She has stayed 100% positive and keeps very busy, especially with a 5 year old and a 1 year old.

I just wanted to send the link out here to everybody to see if you can help get my sister to her goal of $2,000 to get her to the 2017 National HOPE Summit in Washington DC.

My sister has been my best friend since I can remember, and with everything she's gone through in the past year she's become my hero. I hope you guys are able to help out, thank you! (link below)

Jackie Keast

Best wishes to her for optimal outcomes on all fronts. Given that she's female and a never-smoker, I do hope her oncologist sent a tumor sample off for genetic / molecular testing. Mutations in a gene called EGFR are particularly prevalent in non-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer. Patients harboring such mutations often do quite well on drugs in a class called TKI (tyrosine kinase inhibitors), of which Tarceva is probably most commonly used. If a tumor sample is sent off for testing, it's also advisable to look for gene rearrangements; one called ALK fusion indicates that a drug called Xalkori should be effective.

There are several other examples of gene mutations / rearrangements (KRAS, BRAF, RET/ROS/MET) that might suggest targeted therapy, or 'personalized medicine'. Each of these options are generally much more tolerable than traditional chemo (platinum doublets), and can lead to better quality of life and longer survival. If you're with a good team at a major cancer center, then I suspect all of these options have at least been put on the table.

Again, my thoughts are with you and your sister - and a donation is on the way.

 

[two3zone]

Done. Sorry I took so long, but somehow I missed this post earlier.

Thank you so much!!!!!

 

[two3zone]

Best wishes to her for optimal outcomes on all fronts. Given that she's female and a never-smoker, I do hope her oncologist sent a tumor sample off for genetic / molecular testing. Mutations in a gene called EGFR are particularly prevalent in non-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer. Patients harboring such mutations often do quite well on drugs in a class called TKI (tyrosine kinase inhibitors), of which Tarceva is probably most commonly used. If a tumor sample is sent off for testing, it's also advisable to look for gene rearrangements; one called ALK fusion indicates that a drug called Xalkori should be effective.

There are several other examples of gene mutations / rearrangements (KRAS, BRAF, RET/ROS/MET) that might suggest targeted therapy, or 'personalized medicine'. Each of these options are generally much more tolerable than traditional chemo (platinum doublets), and can lead to better quality of life and longer survival. If you're with a good team at a major cancer center, then I suspect all of these options have at least been put on the table.

Again, my thoughts are with you and your sister - and a donation is on the way.

Thank you!!!

I do know they are doing a lot of testing to see what exactly happened. She was diagnosed a little over a year ago, they said she was living with it for probably 4-5 years (which she obviously never knew). She has been seeing specialists in Boston and has been in contact with other people who have the same mutant gene.

 

[two3zone]

I received a PM from someone who wanted to remain anonymous and they generously said that they would match any donation for the next 24 hours, up to $250 dollars.


I just want to thank everybody again, MCC, CTO, Tee, MG, Cusefan, and if I missed anybody else thank you. It's very touching all the support that there is around this community. I've seen it before but have never been in the position to be on the receiving end of it (I'd rather not be given the circumstances) but it's just remarkable that while a lot of us may be strangers to one another off of this website but on it we are truly a community and family.

Thank you again everyone, I just can't express what this means to me and my sister.

 

[two3zone]

My sister wanted me to post this on here to give thanks!

I wanted to say thank you to everybody as well. You guys are the best, Thank you.

I want to reach out and say a big “THANK YOU” to all of you who have generously donated to the Lungevity Breathe Deep fundraiser! I have met my goal and the team raised over $6,800! That’s pretty great. It’s so humbling to have so many people support me and this cause.

Thank you so so much!! And thank you, Gary for putting yourself out there to fundraise for your favorite sister!!

Love, Jackie

 

[tee1222]

Fantastic news, my friend. Cancer ain't got a chance against the likes of your sis!

 

[two3zone]

Got some rough news recently, my sisters lung cancer has progressed, she is still in amazing spirits and will never ever give up.

I went to Orlando recently to spend a weekend with her and her family while they were on vacation and have weekend trips to Syracuse every month for the foreseeable future to spend time with her and her kids.

Lung cancer has such a terrible stigma as it's only smokers, she is proof and a lot of people she's come across is even more proof that this disease is more than a "smoking" disease. I wish more funding and research is done towards this awful awful disease and I plan on doing everything I can to spread the word.

It's truly amazing how strong she is, I hope one day I have 1 - 100th of the strength she has and has shown because it's truly remarkable the fight she has put up thus far, nothing stops her at and I've never had a heavier heart than I've had since seeing her go through this.

I again thank everybody for he support for her run last year, she was so surprised and so touched by the people who don't even know her care so much for the cause. Thank you again.

Gary

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Got some rough news recently, my sisters lung cancer has progressed, she is still in amazing spirits and will never ever give up.

I went to Orlando recently to spend a weekend with her and her family while they were on vacation and have weekend trips to Syracuse every month for the foreseeable future to spend time with her and her kids.

Lung cancer has such a terrible stigma as it's only smokers, she is proof and a lot of people she's come across is even more proof that this disease is more than a "smoking" disease. I wish more funding and research is done towards this awful awful disease and I plan on doing everything I can to spread the word.

It's truly amazing how strong she is, I hope one day I have 1 - 100th of the strength she has and has shown because it's truly remarkable the fight she has put up thus far, nothing stops her at and I've never had a heavier heart than I've had since seeing her go through this.

I again thank everybody for he support for her run last year, she was so surprised and so touched by the people who don't even know her care so much for the cause. Thank you again.

Gary

Sorry I missed this post originally. Lung cancer ultimately took my mom and a good friend. Your sister is very much in our prayers. We can't afford to lose anymore good people. I wish her a very, very long life. Best of luck.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Got some rough news recently, my sisters lung cancer has progressed, she is still in amazing spirits and will never ever give up.

I went to Orlando recently to spend a weekend with her and her family while they were on vacation and have weekend trips to Syracuse every month for the foreseeable future to spend time with her and her kids.

Lung cancer has such a terrible stigma as it's only smokers, she is proof and a lot of people she's come across is even more proof that this disease is more than a "smoking" disease. I wish more funding and research is done towards this awful awful disease and I plan on doing everything I can to spread the word.

It's truly amazing how strong she is, I hope one day I have 1 - 100th of the strength she has and has shown because it's truly remarkable the fight she has put up thus far, nothing stops her at and I've never had a heavier heart than I've had since seeing her go through this.

I again thank everybody for he support for her run last year, she was so surprised and so touched by the people who don't even know her care so much for the cause. Thank you again.

Gary

So sorry to read this. I'll be thinking of her, and please give us updates as she rallies and kicks this recurrences a$$.

 

[orange79]

Got some rough news recently, my sisters lung cancer has progressed, she is still in amazing spirits and will never ever give up.

I went to Orlando recently to spend a weekend with her and her family while they were on vacation and have weekend trips to Syracuse every month for the foreseeable future to spend time with her and her kids.

Lung cancer has such a terrible stigma as it's only smokers, she is proof and a lot of people she's come across is even more proof that this disease is more than a "smoking" disease. I wish more funding and research is done towards this awful awful disease and I plan on doing everything I can to spread the word.

It's truly amazing how strong she is, I hope one day I have 1 - 100th of the strength she has and has shown because it's truly remarkable the fight she has put up thus far, nothing stops her at and I've never had a heavier heart than I've had since seeing her go through this.

I again thank everybody for he support for her run last year, she was so surprised and so touched by the people who don't even know her care so much for the cause. Thank you again.

Gary

Very very sorry to hear this. It seems she is fighting the good fight. We all hope she can kick its ass.

 

[Briancuse]

Hey guys, I usually like to keep my private life private, but I'm trying to help my little sister out here.

I moved from Syracuse to Las Vegas back in May of 2015, after 5 days of being in Las Vegas my pregnant 34 year old sister was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. She is a non smoker and has always been active and always took care of herself, no idea how she got sick.

On the positive end of all of this, she gave birth to her son 6 weeks early and is 100% healthy. My sister has been going through treatment throughout the year and the cancer has not grown. She has stayed 100% positive and keeps very busy, especially with a 5 year old and a 1 year old.

I just wanted to send the link out here to everybody to see if you can help get my sister to her goal of $2,000 to get her to the 2017 National HOPE Summit in Washington DC.

My sister has been my best friend since I can remember, and with everything she's gone through in the past year she's become my hero. I hope you guys are able to help out, thank you! (link below)

Jackie Keast

Wishing her all the best, Cancer is an awful awful thing, I lost my Aunt last night to Brain Cancer.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Wishing her all the best, Cancer is an awful awful thing, I lost my Aunt last night to Brain Cancer.

Sorry to read this as well.

 

[tee1222]

Wishing her all the best, Cancer is an awful awful thing, I lost my Aunt last night to Brain Cancer.

Sorry I missed this post originally. Lung cancer ultimately took my mom and a good friend. Your sister is very much in our prayers. We can't afford to lose anymore good people. I wish her a very, very long life. Best of luck.

Very sorry, you guys.

 

[two3zone]

Got some rough news recently, my sisters lung cancer has progressed, she is still in amazing spirits and will never ever give up.

I went to Orlando recently to spend a weekend with her and her family while they were on vacation and have weekend trips to Syracuse every month for the foreseeable future to spend time with her and her kids.

Lung cancer has such a terrible stigma as it's only smokers, she is proof and a lot of people she's come across is even more proof that this disease is more than a "smoking" disease. I wish more funding and research is done towards this awful awful disease and I plan on doing everything I can to spread the word.

It's truly amazing how strong she is, I hope one day I have 1 - 100th of the strength she has and has shown because it's truly remarkable the fight she has put up thus far, nothing stops her at and I've never had a heavier heart than I've had since seeing her go through this.

I again thank everybody for he support for her run last year, she was so surprised and so touched by the people who don't even know her care so much for the cause. Thank you again.

Gary

A solid news follow up. My sister had part of her lung removed last week at Dana Farber in Boston and she's doing great! As of now she is things are going very well. She's off of chemotherapy as it has not been effective.

She's continuing to kick some butt and she will be able to enjoy the summer with her two little ones without any treatment as of right now. She's trying to get into alternative treatment programs but the cancer isn't showing enough in the biopsies for her to get accepted. She was disappointed in that as the doctors do know it's there and that's why they went the surgical route, but she is going to keep trying to get into the programs as she is very excited by the results they've produced on other stage iv lung cancer patients.

I'll be back in the Cuse in July and September to spend some time with her and her family and every time I've been back and able to see here it's been great.

The well wishes and support have been amazing everywhere including here which I cannot express my thanks in words.