Dear friends,
I watched my wife die last fall. I watched her world shrink from New England to Fall River to the yard to the house to a hospital room to a hospital bed. I watched her as she became so weak she could not get off the toilet unaided, as she lost control of her bowels, as she lost control of her mind.

And all I could do was hold her hand and talk to her and be strong for her.
In the end, it was all even her doctors could do. We simply had no real weapons to fight with.

Jane died on December 10, 2010. The death certificate says she died of neuroendocrine cancer.

But what really killed her was not NEC.

What really killed her was our lack of knowledge about this little-known, frequently misdiagnosed, and chronically underfunded disease.

Last year, the National Cancer Institute alone spent over $631 million on breast cancer, $300 million on prostate cancer, $281 million on lung cancer—nearly $5 billion in all. And those numbers do not include the millions spent by the American Cancer Society and other big cancer organizations.

But those major groups did not spend much on neuroendocrine cancer.

The best guess I have been able to come up with on what we spent on NEC research last year is less than $2.5 million, most of it raised by two small foundations dedicated to raising money for this one cancer.

This summer, for the first time in 30 years, the FDA approved a new drug for NEC. That brings the total number of drugs to—three. None of those drugs offer a cure—they just relieve the symptoms somewhat—for a while.
That needs to change.

Jane said at one point that she wanted to be the first person to beat this disease. In the end, the only way for her to beat the cancer was to die and take it with her.

I want this disease dead for everyone, and I don’t want them to have to die to do it.

That’s why, on September 18, I will walk all 26 miles, 385 yards of the Boston Marathon route with the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation team for the Jimmy Fund. All the money I raise for that walk will go to support research on NEC.

That’s why I am organizing two other projects for November 10, Neuroendocrine Tumor Awareness Day.

It is why I started Walking with Jane.

It is why I am asking for your support.

Please, go to www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=449987&supId=331022955&msource=2011WALKFB and make a donation to support the Marathon Walk.

Please, follow what is going on here or at facebook.com/walkingwithjane.

Please volunteer your time and your talents.

No one should ever have to go into this kind of battle so woefully under-armed.

Thank you.
Pax et lux,
Harry

2011 Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai – General Donation

www.kintera.org

One in three people will face cancer in his or her lifetime, but no one has to face it alone. On Sept. 18, 2011, the participants of the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk to benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will change the odds for patients facing all forms of cancer.