Sunday, May 26, 2013

CHEMO BRAIN AND CROWD SOURCING



Ah, the 60s
The good old days.
 
Yes, I know – you’re getting tired of me always laying  my hands on your wallet.  But, then, again, you always feel so good when you divert some of your money from silly stuff like food, clothing and gas – into ovarian cancer research.  So here is another chance to feel good.
Back on June 14, 2012 I wrote a piece about the physical and mental effects of chemotherapy.  To refresh your memory, some patients recover from chemo to find that they have physical and mental impairment that sticks with them for a long time, in some cases forever.   Add to that the fact that any mortal is bound to worry about recurrence - and you get a lot of people in an unfortunate fix.  Well, I am about to introduce  you to a chance to help do something about this situation.  Fred Hutch, as often is the case, is in the vanguard. 
Look at the following link:  http://igg.me/at/survivorwellness.  This is an experiment in “crowdsourcing”, which I take to involve raising money from the “crowd” (e.g., us) in advance of starting the project.  What these people hope to do is to set up some sort of Web-based program to help survivors of ovarian cancer.  Having watched Linda deal with tingling fingers, inability to easily do her quilting, and occasional forgetfulness, I can attest to the value of this sort of thing.  I gave $25.  Go thou and do likewise.  Or better.  Give it a look.


6 comments:

  1. I know I should be talking about cancer, but instead I look at this picture and think about sisterhood. For 62 years I had Linda as my sister. There is something about this candid picture--how we are sitting close, so relaxed, looking through whatever was in those boxes--that so clearly shows our bond. If you read this and haven't spoken to your sister recently, please do so.

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  2. Update: They need $10K, they have raised just about $7K, and they have 12 days more to go.

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  3. They have reached their goal, but that does not absolve you from the duty to contribute. In fact, contribute $25 and add $5.00 to get a Fred Hutch tote bag. Then bring it to the Summerun North on 7/28. I will reimburse you for the bag (actually, for the %5.00 shipping - I'm not Bill Gates), and then give it as a prize to the winners of our "run". Remember - there will be beer. Myrl

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  4. The Hutch newsletter has a good piece about chemo-brain. Here it is:
    https://bay172.mail.live.com/default.aspx?id=64855&owa=1&owasuffix=owa%2f#tid=cmIL19HDD34xG_2wAhWte7dA2&fid=flinbox

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  5. Link not working. I know I could go to the Hutch newsletter, but you might want to fix it. I'm curious about this subject.

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    1. Try this one:

      http://www.fhcrc.org/en/news/center-news/2014/05/5-tips-for-combating-chemo-brain.html

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