CanSurvive Meetings

Meetings are held at noon on the 3rd Friday of each month at the American Cancer Society, 1104 Ireland Way; lunch is provided. (Please note that we will meet somewhere else in October.)

September 17 - Becky Locke, RN, who works at Blue Cross, will talk to us about case managers.

October 15 - Our meeting will be held at the Doubletree Hotel at the corner of 8th Avenue So. and 20th Street at noon. Parking is free; enter the lot on 20th St. Lunch is provided. The Doubletree van will pick up folks coming from the Women & Children's Center at noon and drive them back there at 1 p.m. Our program by Criss Smiley will be on table decorating.

November 19 - We'll assemble goodie bags for patients.

December 17 - A time for us to visit

Upcoming Events

Mon., 9/13, UAB North Pavilion, 8:30 a.m. -- 3:30 p.m.*, CanSurvive Awareness Table

Tues., 9/14, Nino's Italian Restaurant, 2698 Pelham Parkway, 5 -- 9 p.m., 10% sales will be donated to CanSurvive

Sat., 9/18, The Preserve in Hoover, Head Over Teal Day by Laura Crandall Brown Foundation, 8:00 a.m. -- noon, CanSurvive Awareness Table. Click on Events on sidebar for more information

Mon., 9/20, Brookwood Women's Center, 8:30 a.m. -- 3:30 p.m.*, CanSurvive Awareness Table

*includes set up and breakdown times

Event: Awareness Table at Southern Women's Show @ the BJCC
Hours :
Thursday, Oct. 7: 10 a.m. -- 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 8: 10 a.m. -- 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 9: 10 a.m. -- 7 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 10: 11 a.m. -- 5 p.m.

Event: Annual Holiday Party
Date: Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 at the Hoover Country Club

CanSurvive Meeting Notes August 20, 2010

We had a record number of people in attendance - 37! Kristen Craig provided a beautiful flower arrangement and we ordered our lunch from the Pita Stop.

Members got a list of tentative and definite dates and places for awareness booths in September and October. A list of these will be attached below. The date for the 27th did not work out. Let Cheryl or Jennifer know if you can work any of these. We'll be sending a separate e-mail for working the Southern Women's Show in October.

Cheryl gave a brief update on members who were not in attendance. Vickie Knox is doing much better at home. Kathy Wickstrom was in Chicago for treatment with a new drug. Alice Laurendine was at the beach. Jan Conway sent word that she will SEE us next month; she was having cataract surgery the day of our meeting.

We welcomed some new faces: Toni and Dave Keyes; Kelly Rice; Cecilia Crandall, Laura's mother; and Nedra Lisovicz from the UAB Dept. of Preventive Medicine. Other members also brought friends.

Christine Hollingsworth brought a catalogue from Hair Options; it is located on Highway 150 in the Walmart shopping center. The owner Loraine McDonald is willing to give us a break on wigs.

Asiah brought some literature about CA125 tests.

We also had $2 off Boost coupons, which we sent to the clinic after our meeting.

Please remember to park behind the American Cancer Society for our meetings. The parking places out front are for the folks staying in the Hope Lodge.

Our big crowd had everything to do with our speaker today. Patty Bunch told us about ongoing clinical trials and some things that are in the pipeline. Actually, Rachel Richardson, who took JoLane's place in research, had to read and explain Patty's slides since Patty had laryngitis. Patty answered questions we had afterward, too.

Patty's Powerpoint presentation is attached below. It will also be posted on the CanSurvive website, www.cansurvivesupportgroup.org. If you can't open this, look at the next e-mail. I'll send the information as a .pdf file.

(By the way, here is a great brochure explaining the phases of clinical trials. http://www.wcn.org/downloads/2010_clinical_trials_brochure.pdf)

• Mon. 9/13 UAB 8:30-3:30
• Sat. 9/18 Head Over Teal Day 8:00-noon
• Mon. 9/20 Brookwood 8:00-3:30

Attatchments:
Click here for Powerpoint
Click here for word version

OVARIAN CANCER NATIONAL ALLIANCE CONFERENCE - 2010

The OCNA conference was a wonderful experience. We had the opportunity to hear many speakers on different subjects: Clinical Trial & Research Updates, Genetics, Survivors Teaching Students, Healthcare Reform, Complementary Therapies, Long-Term Survivorship and more. If you would like to view some of the information in more detail including the power point presentations, you can click on the link below. http://www.ovariancancer.org/conference/2010/

To me, the most rewarding part of the entire conference was Advocacy Day. All seven of us from Alabama had appointments scheduled in different offices of our Congressmen including Spencer Bachus, Bobby Bright, Artur Davis, Parker Griffith, Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby. We were able to tell our personal stories as well some of your stories. To really put a face on this disease, I took photographs to show them, including pictures of my mom before her diagnosis, during her treatment, and near the end of her life.

We have received some positive follow up from a few of their offices, but we still need their help to vote for the funding we requested. Here is a summary of what we have asked them to support:

• $10 million in 2011 to fund Johanna's Law
• $10 million in 2011 for the Ovarian Cancer Control Initiative
• $30 million in 2011 for the Dept. of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program
• To sign as co-sponsor on September as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
• To sign as co-sponsor and to reauthorize Johanna's Law

For more in depth descriptions of where the money will go, please see the summary page on the OCNA website: Click here

We also met some really incredible people while we were there. I promised one of those people, Joe Casey, that I would share his mother's story. Please see the following video link about the BRCA gene and ovarian cancer symptoms and feel free to share it with anyone you feel may benefit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKWu-Pl4kfY

I think this was an experience I will never forget. I encourage those who have considered going to make plans on attending one of the conferences in the future.

-- Jennifer Smiley

Tablescapes a Success

CanSurvive was the beneficiary of the Tablescapes held at the Hoover Country Club on May 11, 2010. Attendees gleaned ideas from the 25 tables decorated by local merchants and individuals while enjoying a delicious variety of heavy hors d'oeuvres. We were also treated to lovely piano music by the club's past president, Rick Sirmon. Participants also had a chance to visit our awareness table.

Jennifer and Criss Smiley decorated this table in the awareness colors for uterine and endometrial cancers. Their theme was the "Peaches and Cream Book Club." Actual books are part of our lending library that Jennifer started. The books in the center are cakes!

Cheryl Bourn used the ovarian and cervical awareness colors as accents with her "Slice of Life" dishes and had statistics for these cancers displayed. Kathy Wickstrom made the floral centerpiece.

Alice Laurendine and her sister decorated TWO tables! This one had the them of "Steel Magnolias - Strong Southern Women Fighting Cancer".

The other one was "The Teddy Bears' Picnic". Isn't this cute?

Thanks to all the people who made this event possible: Dr. Alice Laurendine, Allison Fulmer of the Hoover Country Club, all those who decorated tables, Kathy Wickstrom for the flowers for Jennifer's and Cheryl's tables, CanSurvive members, and our attendees.




Visit the "Photos" section for more pictures.

Ovarian Cycle -- 2010

Participants in Ovarian Cycle raised nearly $60,000 for ovarian cancer research this year. Several of our members participated in the ride.

To see more pictures, click on the "Photos" link in sidebar.

Pictures Needed for 2011 Calendar

Have you enjoyed using your CanSurvive Calendar this year? Start collecting your pictures now for next year's calendar. The deadline for submitting pictures for next year's calendar is Oct. 1.

Calendar images are shown below. Click on each image to see a larger version.