Good times

Garrett finished up his twenty-eighth year of life by enjoying time with family and lifelong friends during a fabulous vacation. It’s about time we get back to work, but I wanted to let you all know what a great time we’ve had on this break and how proud I am of Garrett for getting out and having fun even when his body doesn’t want to cooperate. We took in a great baseball game in person, a co-birthday bbq, dinners out, dinners in, catching up with friends and lots of time relaxing in or around the Jacuzzi. Sounds like easy stuff to do on vacation, but after all it has been through, Garrett’s body has a tough time just getting out of bed many days. Doing all these fun things is quite an accomplishment and I appreciate all the effort he puts in just to get out and have good times.

Another year calls and we’ll kick it off next Saturday at our annual Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Thanks to all our friends and family who have made donations this year and in past years, if you haven’t checked it out yet our team is the 5th place raiser for our relay event and we’re really close to making our fundraising goal! Garrett’s body won’t let him do a lot of walking this year so if you are in Seattle and have time between 10am Saturday and 10am Sunday, come join us and walk a few laps on the track!

Hope Part 2

Garrett's Sneaky Ticklers Relay for Life team is hitting the track for 24 hours June 12-13 to support the American Cancer Society!  Garrett's name will be under the team member list soon, but you can go at any time and make a donation to one of us online (or print out a mail-in form) if you would like to help fund the type of cancer research that results in vaccine discoveries like Garrett posted earlier today! Donations to the American Cancer Society also fund preventative screening events & coverage, patient/survivor support services, family & caregiver support, educational programs and lobbying policy makers on behalf of cancer victims!


Dollars are appreciated, but also consider doing another great act instead like:


-Visit and/or walk with us in Seattle June 12-13!
-Share our story and online donation page with others
-Schedule cancer screenings for yourself this year
-Donate blood at your local blood bank or blood drive

Thank you for supporting us everyday, Garrett and I couldn't do all that we do without the love we get from all of you! 

There is only one important time and that time is now

Despite your opinion on how this should be done, I want to ask you all to support some kind of change in our health care system sooner rather than later. If you are fortunate enough to work hard, earn your health insurance, access preventative medicine and annual cancer screenings and afford to pay your health care bills, very good for you, you are living the dream! We have been amazingly well supported through Garrett's employer based private insurance, but so many cancer patients and other sick Americans are not that lucky. We are forever grateful for the insurance coverage we have had so far, but built into the system are so many catches, inequities, inefficiencies and flat out disasters that it is not working to support our country's general health or especially those with catastrophic health conditions like cancer.

I will not claim that the proposal out there now is the magical answer to all our health care problems, but trying to do something better is long overdue and it is my wish that we try something new at this point. If it does not work and/or needs adjustments I will be speaking up about it again in the future, as we all should. But I believe the worst thing we can do now is wait longer, fight about it more and let cancer patients continue to reach their lifetime benefit limits, delay diagnosis or treatment, get denied and dropped, or go bankrupt paying for their own care. No matter how you feel about our government's current social assistance programs or the inclusion or exclusion of a government run health insurance option, this is a matter worth moving forward on. And then continuing forward, making changes to it as many times as necessary to improve the health and life of us all, especially those who don't have any choice in the matter of living with cancer.

A simple way to show your support is to sign the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network's petition to congress. It simply says that you support taking action now, making forward progress without delay.

What can we do?

As suspected, a blood transfusion (red blood cells) is in order this week. Some times the symptoms he feels from low blood counts go away right after the transfusion, other times he perks up a few days later. Either way, it is good to stay on top of his anemia and get transfusion before he gets too terribly low.

This is probably the first of many posts I will write on this topic, but it is a broad subject and a common question. The answer is different every week and for every one of you, but I will try to put a new post out there whenever things change for us. The question “is there anything we can do to help?” is so wonderful to be asked, but sometimes so hard to answer. Most of us have a hard time asking for help and just as hard a time accepting it when offered, Garrett and I are no different. But I will strive to ask for and accept help when we really need it because a lot of small things can really lift some of our burdens and hopefully empower all you givers out there too! Here are a few things to start out that you can do right now:

- Check yourself! Get annual exams including cancer screenings. Most cancers are very treatable (or preventable!) when they are caught early. The sooner you can face the issue, the less difficult the solution will be. If you do this one thing we (and the other people who love you) will not have to worry about you :) which is a great relief.

- Have health insurance and disability insurance. See below about contacting policy makers to improve affordability and access.

- Live a healthful life of moderation (easier said than done, I know!) be physically active most days, get outside in sunshine (without sun burns) or supplement vitamin D, eat fruits and vegetables everyday, weigh in a healthy range and find ways to be happy! No one food or life choice keeps us cancer free, but the sum of healthy habits seems to lower our risk of cancer.

-Contact policy makers about supporting comprehensive health care reform, cancer research funding and education/access to pain and palliative care services. Join the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and they will alert you about upcoming votes and facilitate communication to lawmakers.

- Donate money to your favorite health, cancer, or patient support nonprofit organization. Garrett’s friends organize a Relay for Life team every May to raise money for the American Cancer Society, my friends Tessa (and Becca and Kristine) raise and run for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and you probably know someone else who is involved and taking donations!

- Some organizations need your time and talents in addition to funds. The Pink Daisy Project arranges support like house cleaning, reduced cost childcare and grocery shopping and meal prep assistance for breast cancer patients, helping young mothers like our friend Ellen’s sister during tough treatments. Volunteer your skills, walk or run in a fundraising event yourself, call your senator… actions small and large will support our family and other families facing cancer.

That’s all for now, surely more to come! If you know other organizations doing good work, share them here and with everyone else you know!