We’ve SURVIVED! August marks the 5th Anniversary of the Red Shamrock Foundation and we couldn’t have survived without YOU! To celebrate, and as a THANK YOU to our wonderful supporters, all Red Shamrock merchandise from One Mission Fundraising is on SALE; $5 off of every item to commemorate our 5 years of helping pediatric cancer survivors. So get out there and grab your reward! And, as always, thank you for your support!
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“Be with Cancer”
Cancer. There is no other word in the human vocabulary that instills more anxiety, creates greater uncertainty, or harbors more fear than cancer. At the same time, cancer compels human compassion, raises hope, unifies and directs a common purpose.
Everyday there is new discovery or angle in cancer research that brings hope for a cure. Recently President Obama called for a “Moonshot” toward that end. The University of Iowa Dance Marathon hit a new record in donations as students challenged their mind, body, and spirits to vicariously “be” with cancer as they celebrated new “graduates” to the growing number of cancer survivors.
As I reflect on my 30 years of “survivorship” I am reminded that while my disease is gone the journey continues. Leukemia is an insidious blood cancer that baffled scientist and providers as patients, apparently cured, would have relapse upon relapse. I recall a comment by my physician, “Cancer is like a constellation, as we chart its stars, investigate its properties, increase our magnification, we have more to learn than what we knew and what we thought we knew changes.”
With luck and good timing I never experienced a relapse because medical knowledge and treatments advanced and survivorship increased. Cancer treatments were often more pernicious than the disease they were aimed to treat. Numerous articles in the Journal of Clinical Oncology made a clarion call for more research to understand these long term effects, especially for childhood cancer survivors.
Therein lies the challenge, to set the limited resources of cancer research funding toward finding a cure while also aiding patients who have “beaten” cancer, but have health issues related to their treatments or disease. The void in cancer research funding is enormous and especially lacking when it comes to childhood cancer being a pittance of the National Institute of Health’s budget.
For too long this void has been filled by the concerned parent and family of the afflicted child. From my mother’s concern, compassion and effort the Ronald McDonald House was built to serve the housing, financial and emotional needs of families caring for a loved one during their cancer treatment. Similarly, from John’s compassion and understanding of the survivor’s needs post treatment, arose the Red Shamrock Foundation.
I am truly honored and humbled to support this cause of the Red Shamrock Foundation with full realization I am helping myself to a better quality of life. Our society’s love of sport has created a vernacular to “beat” cancer. The fallacy of this theme is that sport is a “zero sum game.” Cancer survivors are not winners and no one loses to cancer; the journey is just finished at different times. Until a cure is reality, being with cancer is the unfortunate reality. Be with cancer– in spirit–join a trail run, shave your head, light the night, or ride for courage.
Sincerely,
Tim Rossi
Read about Tim’s treatment protocol here.
The Red Shamrock Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipient of the inaugural Survivorship Scholarship! $1,000 will be awarded to Jacob Larkins, who is a Human Health and Physiology major at the University of Iowa, for his submission of the essay “Look Forward.” Jacob was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2011 while a sophomore in high school. Thank you, Jacob, for telling your story and good luck with the remainder of your academic career!
Look Forward
By Jacob Larkins
“Jacob, would you like to take the year off from school and start up again next year?” asked my mom. Why would my mom ask such a question? It was because I had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma just a few days before. Without hesitation, my answer to her was simply, “No.” I told her that I like going to school and seeing my friends and that it would also help me keep my mind off of things. The main reason I wanted to stay in school, was because I wanted to prove to others and myself that I was smart enough to continue to pass my classes and keep a good GPA while going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I didn’t want to give up on myself medically or academically.
In addition to my personal goals I achieved during and after my treatment, one of my new goals is to look forward by giving back to others. During the course of all my treatments I received help from Dance Marathon. I realized how important their contributions were to me, and the impact they can make on someone’s life. I have already begun the process of giving back, by holding a few Mini Dance Marathons to help raise money and awareness for pediatric patients. I was also a dancer and a speaker my freshman year in college and a speaker during my sophomore year. This year, I spoke to a small group and danced in the Big Event. I have enjoyed being involved with Dance Marathon throughout my college career.
In addition, I have started volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House. I was fortunate to be able to stay at the RMH for five and a half weeks during my radiation treatments in 2011. I also recently went on a service trip with the Newman Center to Port Ministries. During this service trip, I was able to help others less fortunate that myself. Being an active part of giving back helps me feel good about making an impact on others, as people did for me during my treatments.
As I have recently finished my junior year, it is apparent that I will meet the goals that I set for myself during my sophomore year of high school; medically and academically. I am fortunate to be able to work towards these goals right here at the University of Iowa and give back to others. My advice to someone who is diagnosed with cancer is to “Look Forward”.
Your financial support through this scholarship would help me continue to attend the University of Iowa and go into the medical field. I am currently in the Human Health and Physiology department. I would put it to good use to make a difference, in the same manner that others have helped me, while I was going through treatments for cancer. I have survived cancer, adapted, grown, and persevered by “Looking Forward”. Thank you for your consideration.