Cancer Awareness

Lights, Camera, Action: Spotlight on Cancer special on the Katie show

Several weeks ago, I got a long voicemail from my father.  He exclaimed that my sister, Jadian, saw a tweet by Katie Couric that gave ticket information about her daytime talk show’s upcoming Spotlight on Cancer special and asked if I was interested in going.  By the time I had the chance to call my father back, my sister had already signed us all up.  As luck would have it, my family and I were 4 of the people chosen to get tickets for the live show.  Considering that the intimate TV studio only has 144 seats, this was quite a special and fortunate treat!

On the day of the show, all of the audience members had to congregate in ABC Studio’s cafeteria to wait until we were allowed to enter the TV studio.  Every single one of the audience members was given a Stand Up to Cancer T-shirt that stated how they were affected by cancer. It was so powerful and moving to be in a room of people who were wearing shirts that said, “Fighting,” “In Memory of,” “Survivor,” and “Touched By.”  I felt so lucky, blessed, and privileged that my dad, sister, and I got to wear gray “Touched By” shirts and that my mother got to proudly wear a yellow “Survivor” shirt.

My mother and I are proudly wearing our SU2C shirts and Bonded Forever “Stay Grounded” bracelets

I met so many wonderful people in the cafeteria.  Everyone had a story to tell and an organization or blog that they had started or were passionate about.  It was really great to be amongst so many other people who were trying to be proactive and involved. It was also amazing to see all of the “In Memory of” and “Fighting” T-shirt wearers look so brave, upbeat, and defiant.

I was touched and inspired by Katie Couric’s Spotlight on Cancer show taping.  It was so informative, uplifting, courageous, and thought provoking.  The show featured celebrities that were cancer ambassadors/activists (Blythe Danner, Fran Drescher, Maura Tierney, and Shannon Miller) and leading medical professionals. All of the factual, candid, and intimate information that they shared was so invaluable.  I hope that the show helps raise cancer awareness, motivates people be proactive about getting tested/screened, and instills hope to those who desperately need it.

I was so impressed and moved by Katie Couric’s grace, warm and inviting smile, openness, and compassion.  She has truly been such an innovative and effective leader, crusader, and advocate for cancer awareness, research, and patient care and I was honored to have the opportunity to be in her presence.  She was kind enough to postpone taping one of her segments so that she could have a lengthy audience Q&A.  So many people courageously shared their stories, promoted their organizations, and asked great questions about health insurance, ways to find support groups for rare types of cancer, how social media can help cancer patients and caregivers create an online community and support system for themselves, and so much more.

Katie has co-founded and founded so many wonderful organizations and institutions for cancer.  Please read up about them at the links provided below:

• Stand up To Cancer (SU2C): This organization helps raise money, increase awareness, and accelerate innovative cancer research.

• Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF)‘s National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA): Promotes early detection and screenings and helps raise funds for medical research.

• Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health: The center is named after Katie Couric’s late husband, who unfortunately lost his fight against Colon Cancer.  This clinical center of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University is dedicated to  integrated care, prevention, screening, treatment, support, research, and education for individuals who have or are at risk of developing GI cancers.

I want to give a special shout out to a couple special people that I met that day:

• David DuPlay, founder of Healtheo360: Healtheo360 is an online community that helps patients, caregivers, and loved ones share their stories via video or an online journal and connect with others that are facing similar situations.  David has a HUGE heart and an unstoppable desire to improve people’s lives.  Although the company is fairly new, I think it is well on its way to becoming a big success.

• Suleika Jaquad, writer of the NY Times column, Life Interrupted: Sulkeika is a beautiful and remarkable young woman in her twenties who is currently fighting leukemia.  Her blog is so brave, poignant, raw, and honest. I just started to follow her on Instagram and Twitter and read all of her old blog posts. She’s one cool chick.  I wish her the best of luck in making a full recovery.

• Mailet Lopez, creator of I Had Cancer: Mailet Lopez and Squeaky Wheel Media teamed up to create an award winning online social support network that connects survivors, fighters, and supporters.  Mailet was kind and patient enough to take several photos of my family and I.  I loved her cheerful disposition and funky style.

Overall, my experience at the Katie show was so wonderful and I am thankful that my sister signed us all up. The show was a great way for us all to come together and celebrate my mother’s amazing recovery!

Tagged as: blythe danner, fran drescher, healtheo360, i had cancer, jay monahan center for gastrointestinal health, katie show, maura tierney, national colorectal cancer research alliance, NCCRA, shannon miller, Stand Up To Cancer, SU2C, suleika jaquad