Our friend Elyse Aussenberg (pictured) was diagnosed with lung cancer in May 2008. Elyse is the healthiest person we know: never smoked, eats well, works out every day like a madwoman, and still came down with this awful disease at the age of 52. Click here for Elyse's blog.
THE FACTS- Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer in America, killing more women each year than breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers COMBINED.
- Right now there is an epidemic of female never-smokers in their 40s and 50s who have been diagnosed with lung cancer. No one knows why.
- Men and women differ significantly in the types of lung cancer they contract, who gets lung cancer, and how they respond to treatment.
- Lung cancer mortality in men has been declining for decades. In the past 20 years, lung cancer mortality in women has risen sharply, and only now is beginning to stabilize.
- 10% to 15% of lung cancer patients have NEVER smoked. 50% of lung cancer patients are FORMER smokers.
- Because of the stigma and perceived guilt associated with lung cancer, it is proportionally the type of cancer most underfunded for research.
- Patients are routinely told that their doctors "wish they had breast cancer" because research has been so well funded and much better understood than lung cancer.
- There is no screening test or other method for early detection of lung cancer. And contrary to popular belief, chest x-rays are rarely helpful in detecting and diagnosing lung cancer.
- Most early-stage lung cancers are diagnosed by accident, while the patient is being treated for an unrelated condition.
- By the time patients are symptomatic, their cancers frequently have progressed to advanced stages.
- Only 14% of lung cancer patients survive for 5 years after diagnosis. Now consider that the 5 year survival rate for breast cancer and prostate cancer is 70% to 75%.
- The median survival rate for patients diagnosed with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is less than 1 year.
Click here to read more about lung cancer.
THE GOAL
Our goal is to raise enough money to make a difference. We're not biking across the country for 75 bucks. On the other hand $100,000 will fund a research grant in Elyse's name, and we hope it will make a real difference in lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. 100% of your donations will go Elyse's research grant, to be awarded by the National Lung Cancer Partnership. You can find their website here and their financials here. Click here to donate.
THE PLAN
So we considered how to make a difference. What about something like that 3 day walk they do for breast cancer? Nothing like that for lung cancer. Marathon? I hate to run. 5k or 10k race? See response to question 3, above. Besides, there's not one in or anywhere near Atlanta. Swim? Nah; I look awful in a bathing suit. I don't know any marathon-yoga fundraisers. The answer came on my early morning bike ride: of course, a cross country bike trip.
Then the idea started to grow and grow and grow. I sent out emails to friends to gauge their interest. Most were horrified. Some, however, volunteered to ride at least part of the trip. The most likely scenario is that I will ride the entire trip, and other members of the team will rotate in to join me for 7 to 10 day stretches. Still hoping to find someone crazy enough to sign up for the whole thing . . . .
So we're rolling--literally. Team Dream pushes off from the Pacific Ocean at Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles on May 9, 2009 and arrives in Boston to dip our tires in the Atlantic roughly 7 weeks later. Check back here for updates on our progress. During the trip we'll be posting updates and pictures from the road. All thoughts, prayers, energy, universe shifting, and of course, donations, welcome. We're gonna kick this killer disease.
Cheers!
Team Dream 2009
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