Last July, my post was centered around the newly public cancer diagnoses of Lin Brehmer and Rebecca Blank. As everyone in Chicagoland knows, Lin, our local WXRT radio legend, succumbed to prostate cancer last month. This week, we learned that Dr. Blank, the incoming President of Northwestern University, has passed away from her “aggressive” cancer, which I have seen classified as pancreatic cancer.
Sadly, my campaign for a moment of radio silence in honor of Lin fell on deaf ears. Too many readers let me know that “dead air” was the last thing a radio pro like Brehmer would have wanted. My next request will be for NU’s men’s basketball Wildcats to win a few games in the NCAA March Madness Tournament to honor the University President who never got to be. Go Cats!
Prostatic cancer and pancreatic cancer are the two diseases that took my father and my sister. Each year tens of thousands of other Americans die of these two scourges. A thimbleful of DNA gone wrong, a pinpoint of genetic material led astray, and a person’s life and sometimes lifespan is indelibly altered.
I am not an eternal pessimist. All cancer news is not negative. Progress is being made in the multi-faceted battle against the disease. The very genes whose alterations begin the malignant process are now targets for therapies that can halt or reverse the course of the disease. Surgery and radiation treatments have become more focused in an attempt to minimize patient side effects and avoid damage to surrounding tissues. In fact, better treatment along with earlier diagnoses and a decrease in smoking rates have given us a remarkable 33% drop in cancer death rates over the last 30 years.
My friends with cancer histories are fighting strong and proud. This week I bowled with a prostate cancer survivor and played tennis with a kidney cancer warrior. I aspire to play half as well and be half as optimistic as either one of them. And my dear wife is 11 years past her melanoma diagnosis and treatment. I look forward to a day when all cancer patients can celebrate the same successes.
Those of you who know me well are aware that for many years I have been involved in the SEA Blue/Zero Prostate Cancer Walk and Run for Prostate Cancer Awareness. My involvement continues this year. If you are thinking of Lin or someone in your family who has been affected by prostate cancer and want to help prostate cancer patients please support our cause by clicking this link. (Please be aware the donation process currently only works from mobile phones. It does not work on desktop computers or tablets.) Any and all donations are appreciated.
And if you are a Northwestern alum and want to recognize Dr. Blank, a memorial fund exists at the University of Wisconsin, where she served as Chancellor for nine years.
The fight goes on!
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