Where I’ve been
Sometimes the endless war against NET cancer gets to be more than I can bear. This week I have taken some much-needed time off to try to deal with the emotional toll all of this exacts from me every day. I’ve spent some time talking with friends and evaluating what I am doing and how I have been doing it.
This is an ultra-marathon,
not a sprint.
I’ve come to a number of conclusions about a number of different issues this past week, not least of which is I need to take more frequent short breaks where I think about things other than cancer in general and NET cancer in particular.
What this means
None of which means there will be any huge changes in terms of Walking with Jane or this website. I am just as determined as I was a week ago to help find a cure for this disease and help current patients with the burdens they are carrying. That means continuing to read the research, continuing to update and build this site, continuing to raise money and write pamphlets and ask annoying questions.
But when mental, physical, and emotional fatigue set in I am going to try to be a little more proactive in dealing with them. I have to be reminded periodically that finding the answers to NET cancer’s multiple issues is not going to be something we accomplish quickly. To use the cliché, this is an ultra-marathon, not a sprint.
Rest provides perspective
One of the other things I’ve allowed myself the luxury of the last few days is to really look at our accomplishments in the 20 months since Jane died. I forget sometimes that Jane was diagnosed with NET cancer just two years ago this week and that it was not until four months after her death that I began working seriously on Walking with Jane.
We are still two weeks shy of the first anniversary of this website. In that time we have had over 11,500 visits and undertaken two major revisions of the set-up. Barely a year ago I sat down with our lawyer for the first time to talk about setting up Walking with Jane as a non-profit. Just over a year ago I sat down with people from two other NET cancer foundations to talk about how a Walking with Jane foundation would fit into the overall picture of the battle against this disease.
The Walking with Jane Dybowski Fund for Neuroendocrine Cancer at Dana-Farber is six months old this week. We are still five days short of Walking with Jane, Inc.’s three month anniversary.
Some financial success
In the last 15 months we have raised close to $53,000–and if I add in a matching grant and what the rest of the Caring for Carcinoid Walking with Jane team has raised so far for the September 9 Jimmy Fund Marathon Walk, we are closing in 0n $70,000. That is more than I made my last year of teaching. And while that amount is a drop in the bucket compared to what it costs to fund even a single drug trial, it is a substantial amount to have raised from a standing start in just a year and a quarter.
Being taken seriously
At some point this week I began to understand why the people at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Caring for Carinoid Foundation are so impressed and lavish with their praise for our little start-up. For all that I may feel lost and confused and unsure about what we are doing, we are not acting like we plan to remain a minor player in this campaign against NET cancer. We have a long way to go before we reach the vision I have for Walking with Jane, but we have taken some serious steps in that direction.
The price of progress
But I have worn myself out doing it. With just a month left before the Marathon Walk my mind and body both declared it was time to go walkabout for a bit. I wrote a very poor post earlier this week, posted a new link about the success of a new drug trial in the Resources section, but until this morning have otherwise tried to put my mind in neutral on NET cancer. I’ve spent the week working through some grief issues I have tried unsuccessfully to ignore for too long, thinking about my personal future, and talking with some old friends I have not spent time with in too long.
The war against NET cancer
is not close to being over.
I likely won’t write too much this weekend. I still have some issues to work through before I am fully fit to return to duty. But three weeks from Sunday is the Marathon Walk and I have a great deal still to do before then. I’d like to get close to the $10,000 level for that event personally, and have some ideas for how to get there.
The war against NET cancer is not close to being over. This soldier’s leave, however, is about up–and he is ready to get back to the fight.
Marathon Walk Update
As of the latest official numbers, our Caring for Carcinoid Walking with Jane team has raised $8573.80. That is good for 33rd place overall.
My personal online fundraising has stalled this week during my break from all things Walking with Jane, though I did add a few dollars to the bottom line. My official personal total is $4140.20 which, according to this morning’s updated numbers, is good for 36th place, overall and first on our Caring for Carcinoid Walking with Jane team.
Elizabeth had a very good week and crossed the $2500 this morning for second spot on the team roster. She is 73rd overall.
Jenaleigh holds third on the team at $525.
Our team goals for both walkers and money remain well away from what we want. We still have but twelve walkers against our hoped for 25. We have raised about a third of our $25,000 goal.
We have three weeks from Sunday between us and the walk. It is never too late to donate. Nor is it too late to join our merry little band of NET cancer warriors.
