2012 Seattle Brain Cancer Walk: LET'S DANCE!

It's Monday night and another Seattle Brain Cancer Walk is in the books, but I've gotta say, it's still on my mind.  It was such an amazing event this year!!

Here are the numbers:
2,700 walkers (up from 2,000 last year)
140 patients and survivors registered (up from 100)
$675,000 raised!
I was on two teams this year. 

Some of the 2,700 participants walking around Seattle Center.

Team Tull - in honor of a colleague of mine, Steve Tull, who was diagnosed in December, raised over $2,000.

Worthy of Hope - in memory of John Norsworthy and my "normal team" raised over $9,000.

WOOT!  WOOT!

The money gets matched 9 times over…so this fundraising will really help the research and patients here in the Pacific Northwest.

How the walk started:
This being the 5th Anniversary Walk, the organizers wanted to do something really special.  One way or another they decided to have a Flash Mob start the Walk!  It's kind of a long story, but I was told about it (and then sworn to secrecy) a little more than a week before the Walk.  I couldn't have that knowledge and not do something with it -- secrecy or not!!  So I immediately told Aaron and then signed us up to be in the mob!  Despite our, umm, vast (yeah, right!) dance experience, I will tell you we were both pretty nervous about it. 

We went to two practices and then spent a week holed up in our house practicing, practicing, practicing.  It would have been quite the sight if you were around our office at 11pm watching us bounce around in front of the online practice video!  Then Saturday morning's opening ceremonies started and moments later we were in a group of 50 dancing our hearts out!  It was So. Much. Fun!  Our own little Glee experience!  Both of us can't wait to sign up to do it again.

It was all recorded and sometime soon full video will be available.  We'll send that link out once we have it.  In the meantime, here's an iphone recording from Aunt Janice (one of our Worthy of Hope teammembers).  If it looks like a black square on your screen, hover with your mouse and find an arron pointing to the right and click on it.  It should come up.

 
How the Walk felt:
GREAT!!  Every year it gets bigger and better.  The Walk is more about connecting people than it is about the money.  Yes, the money is really important…but the Walk is rooted in community.  This year, Aaron and our friend Karen Howard (his college roommate Ben's wife) came across a woman who looked lost. They said 'hello' and made a connection.  The woman said her husband had just been diagnosed. She had come to the Walk hoping to meet someone else who was dealing with what she’s dealing with.  She broke down explaining it to Karen and Aaron.  Because of heavy traffic she arrived late and the Walk was nearly over.  That didn't stop Karen!  She took the lady by the hand and said, “Well, let me walk you around and introduce you to some people!”  Just like that, they were off into the crowd.  And that really captures the day.  I know lots and lots of connections were made that help people get through their days.  We hear that many patients make “getting to the Walk” one of their goals as they fight their cancer.  We do our best to deliver.  Here’s a great story KOMO News did about the Walk which really captures it better than I can describe it: http://queenanne.komonews.com/news/community-spirit/785438-parade-crusaders-joins-fight-against-brain-cancer

Worthy of Hope -
Here are some team pictures.

Evie with our team sign.

Brunch at Barrio. 
They donated to the Walk, so we're happy to support them. 
Please pass the blood orange mimosa! Oh! And the food and company were superb.

Karen and Aunt Janice.

Aunt Janice, Karen, Anner and Aaron went to lunch the day before the Walk.  Aaron and I had to say, "oh we have work to do...we've gotta get going"...when secretly we had flash mob rehearsal to get to.  (hee hee hee)

This year we got Worthy of Hope coffee tumblers made. 
Mine is packed and ready to go for work tomorrow.

 

Tent of Honor. 

Every year, volunteers put up thousands of folded cranes and pictures of people we walk for. 



 

 

This was in honor of a colleague of mine, Steve Tull.  His wife and I worked together. 
They joined us for Brain Cancer Awareness Night with the Mariners.
On Walk Day they were taking their youngest to college. 
We had a "virtual team" in Steve's honor.

This is a co-worker of mine from HDR.  I didn't know her, but she had a lot of friends.
They work in Portland and sent pictures and stories for us to post.


 



Patient and Survivor Tent:

This is the area I help with every year.

 

This year we gave away over 100 Experiences to patients and their families.
Look how happy everyone is looking for the perfect thing for them!
This is a big highlight to watch.

 

Anner and Nan - P/S Tent Co-Chairs.
*LOVE* working with Nan.

We started setting up waaaay before day light.  Who wants to join us for a 4:30am set-up next year?



We have lots of beautiful displays...mostly thanks to Nan.
She even arranged the flowers.



This wasn't in our area, but it's too cool to not show off.
It's a gray, handmade brain cancer quilt that was used for a fundraiser.
Gray never looked so good!
 

It really was a magical day - getting up early to set up, seeing everyone arrive all excited to be part of the Walk, Flash Mobbing (and not tripping over ourselves!!!), doing the actual Walk and talking with all the patients and supporters, having a wonderful brunch with all our Worthy of Hope teammates and, I admit it, then getting home and taking a nap!  :)  Really looking forward to next year, but first, it's time to help Aaron get ready for doing Salmon Days in two weeks.

If you'd like to read a bit more about the results of the Walk, here's some more info from the SBCW newsletter:

Every dollar raised for the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk leverages an additional $9 in funding from other sources to advance brain cancer research and treatment in the Pacific Northwest.  This means that we are seeding the ground in our region for new research projects and treatment options. In our final newsletter before the Walk, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight and recap some of the key groundbreaking clinical trials that your support over the last five years has already helped.

• Toca 511 Trial – This is a genetically engineered virus used to insert a gene into glioblastoma cells that ultimately harms and hopefully destroys the cell. The Ben and Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment at Swedish is one of only eight sites in the country participating in this trial.

• Temozolomide Trial – The Ivy Center team is leading this trial with the Seattle biotechnology company Accium Biosciences where researchers use a 15-ton particle accelerator to analyze tumor tissue to determine exactly how much of the chemotherapy drug impacts its target. By using this new approach, doctors hope to better optimize brain cancer therapy so they can deliver the right drug to the right patient at the right dose.

• DCVax Brain Cancer Vaccine Trial – A cancer vaccine used to train patients’ immune systems to attack and kill their brain cancer cells. The Ivy Center is currently the only location in the Pacific Northwest that offers this vaccine to newly diagnosed patients. This vaccine has made its way to the FDA and is pending approval.

We are passionate in our pursuit to find new treatments for brain cancer, and look forward to seeing further advances with these trials and hopefully more each year. We said it in our first newsletter, and we’ll continue to say it over and over again – your involvement produces results for people living with brain cancer. Your support matters and it is appreciated!

More information: http://www.braincancerwalk.org/

FUNTOWN - 2012

Funtown: Wherever Anner and Heidi are.

Last month Aaron and I met our friends the Kampe's on Madeleine Island located on Lake Superior.  Everyone was very excited about taking the ferry from Wisconsin to Mad Island.  I thought it was exciting because I had never seen such a cute little ferry!

It had been triple digits and drought so naturally we packed all t-shirts, shorts and multiple swim suites.  Except when we arrived the weather turned cold and it was about 65 and rainy.  On the up-side we got to hear the thunder, which is a rarity in Seattle. 

The rain and thunderstorms, changed our plans of spending everyday sprawled out on the beach.  Instead, the kids were forced to run around the house a lot and Aaron and I went hiking in the rain.  Still... we managed to eek out a fine time.  We ate well and had great social times with the Kampes.  Michael took professional photos of Aaron's jewelery which was another bonus (which you've seen the pictures on his newsletter)

You can see we had a good time:

Cute Little Ferry (I counted room for 20 cars...they probably can sqeeze a few more on).

Anner and Morgan showing Aaron the love.  The boys totally adore Aaron (who can resist?)  Morgan wanted to ride home in our car because we're "funner".  We like to think we're funner too, but since we wanted to stop and look at art we shoved him into the truck with his parents and went on without him.

Can't have vacation in the woods without s'mores and hobo pies.  Not having kids we didn't know exactly how dangerous a camp fire can be.  Ben nearly ignited Aaron with a flaming marshmallow.  Luckily, Aaron has cat-like reflexes and got the heck out of the way in just the nick of time.  

This is Lake Superior - "The Greatest of Lakes" the signs read.  It IS big!  It's cold.  It's clear.  It was very, very nice.
 

Here's Heidi and I bundled up for a day at the beach.

Aaron brought official Ultimate Frisbee frisbees to give to the boys.  It was a life-saver (or at least a sanity saver) when he took them out to "toss the disc" while Heidi, Mike and I made dinner or were packing for an outing or something.  Aaron proved to be even better than a Game Boy - and that's saying something!  Ben and Morgan played and played and played. 

We celebrated Aaron's birthday on the island.  The An-I-Mal flip flops were a big hit.  It wasn't warm enough to go without socks, but these are pretty fun footwear.