Walk Around the Park Pre-Registration Form!

OK, so we have a bunch of people coming to the Walk Around the Park. That's what I hear, and it's good to hear! The Shriver's are generously shipping to us "sarcoma knows no borders" wristbands and Team Sarcoma T-Shirts. They need to know how many. And what sizes. Thus is born the pre-registration form, to capture these details so that as many people as possible can take advantage of this opportunity. As usual, double-click the image so you can actually read it.
~ Elizabeth
www.becgoteam.com!

New Sponsor Form - Give by Credit Card!

Zowie, we now have a sponsor form that includes the option to give by credit card! There is a 3% fee to use the service, so for every $100 donated, LSSI gets $97, but that meets the goal of holding administrative expenses to 3% or less. Here's the new Sponsor Form. Double-click the image to enlarge the image. Now I have to update the sponsor form on the Team Sarcoma 2007/Bradley website, which, in case anyone has forgotten is www.becgoteam.com!

Marinol

Marinol, as some of you may know, is a cannabinoid pharmaceutical product (Solvay Pharmaceuticals) that uses a synthetic version of THC - the stuff found naturally in marijuana - to control nausea and increase appetite. When Bradley was ill, we asked more than one doctor about Marinol as he was having difficulty with side effects of traditional nausea reducers. They hemmed and hawed, looked the other way, and did not offer an RX for Marinol. So we were left with either continuing to experiment with the usual stuff or going afoul of the law to procure a "cannabinoid" product on our own. That was a couple of years ago.

Lo and Behold, at Ms M's last oncology visit, I picked up a box of tissues in the infusion center on which was an ad for Marinol in bold orange, "A unique pathway to multiple benefits"! How's that for spin! And out there for all to see and request. There is progress in this world after all.....

Blue Days

It's a sad day in the world of my on-line Ewings Sarcoma support group. In the last month, we've lost 4 young adults to the beast. Others are in end stage, or opting to end treatment because it can only make them sick but not cure them. Of those that are in remission, several struggle with the kind of heart problems that are usually associated with old people (caused by chemo), long-term radiation damage and/or face on-going orthopedic surgeries to replace prosthetics. Blech. The disease sucks, the treatments suck, the after-effects of the treatments suck. Please pray to the god of your choice for a breakthrough, to hear "Eureka" come from the labs, for hope.
~ Elizabeth
Fight for the Cure
www.becgoteam.com

There's ALWAYS room for lasagne

On my last visit to the Ronald McDonald House, I asked Joshua Harden (the volunteer coordinator) if they needed more lasagne, and he replied with a big grin, "There's ALWAYS room for lasagne!"

So, here's what a bunch of single-serve lasagnes look like by the time I'm done with them. The fully baked lasagne is divided into freezer safe, snap & seal containers. The ingredient labels are printed on 3 1/3" x 4" white mailing labels (Avery template 5164) and slapped on the top of each container. This way people with dietary restrictions can figure out whether they can eat it or not. I stay away from things that kids traditionally object to, like big chunks of mushrooms, onion or peppers. There are chunks of tomato in the Bertolli, sorry kids. The goal is to provide quick energy on the fly, coverage for missed meals and comfort food for late nights.

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What’s in the lasagna?

Organic Bertolli Spaghetti Sauce with extra seasonings:
Minced onion, minced garlic, oregano,
parsley, salt, pepper
Noodles
Mozzarella cheese
Ground beef
Cottage cheese
Parmesan cheese

ENJOY!
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This is the specialized container that I use for transporting the frozen lasagne to Baltimore. It's lightweight, insulated and, best of all, ensures everyone sees me coming in the door.

Until next time, Lasagne Lady Elizabeth

Visit my website

www.becgoteam.com

"A Forgotten Cancer" Video Presentation and Translations

The video presentation “A Forgotten Cancer”, which is part of the editorial “An International Sarcoma Awareness Week” in the April 2007 issue of ESUN, has been translated into Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish. Toward the end of each of these translations, a link is given to sarcoma centers and sarcoma advocacy resources in China , France , Italy , Japan , Poland , and Spain respectively. These translations were made and the resources identified with the help of sarcoma oncologists, patients, and survivors in each country.

The original English version is at: http://tinyurl.com/35l7mz Resources in English: http://tinyurl.com/2gnaq3 and http://tinyurl.com/z63uq

You can use the following links to access the translations:

Chinese: http://tinyurl.com/2txmf8
Resources in China : http://tinyurl.com/2tsjge

French: http://tinyurl.com/ysejjr
Resources in France : http://tinyurl.com/3xl7dw

Italian: http://tinyurl.com/2ls7mc
Resources in Italy : http://tinyurl.com/3bqv7e

Polish: http://tinyurl.com/3af9ng
Resources in Poland : http://tinyurl.com/2vh4nv

Japanese: http://tinyurl.com/296rfh
Resources in Japan : http://tinyurl.com/yr46sa

Spanish: http://tinyurl.com/25auzr
Resources in Spain : http://tinyurl.com/37kbzy

The Editorial, “An International Sarcoma Awareness Week” is located at http://tinyurl.com/2eokjt.

Ms M

Wow, it's been so long and I've yet to post an update on Ms M. Ms M is the client I drive to chemo every week as part of the American Cancer Society Road to Recovery Program. Ms M is a lovely elderly lady who has a cancer that is only kept in check by chemo but cannot be cured. She manages to keep her spirits up most days and always has a friendly word for those she meets at the chemo center and pharmacy. Now, because of her advanced age and weakened condition, some family memers have moved in with her to help out. While she appreciates their help, recently she's been grumbling a bit about how it would be nice to have her place to herself again. To sum up without getting into detail, she just wants to be able to do what she wants, when she wants to do it. It made me a little sad, for in essence, she was saying the exact same thing as Bradley during his treatment. Young adult and elderly patients often have this in common - they want privacy and independence. Fiercely. They want to tell all the middle-aged people who are suddenly all in their business to please just do what they have to do, as far as helping, and then GO AWAY! It's sure not unreasonable. Unfortunately, when therapy isn't going as well as you'd hope, someone needs to be there to pick up the phone when fevers spike, or when a hundred other things go wrong. The state of cancer treatment programs is getting better, but we're sure not where we need to be. Thanks for reading my blog!
Elizabeth
www.becgoteam.com