We are a little over two weeks away from Brainstormin’ but yet, there is so much work to be done.  And no, I am not talking about the fundraiser itself – at the end of the day on September 14th, everything will have fallen into place and I trust gone off without a hitch.  So the work that has to be done?   I am referring to the efforts of raising additional funds to help the doctors and researchers continue their efforts to better treat brain tumors and ultimately, discover the cure.

This weekend’s news of the passing of Senator John McCain serves as yet another reminder and impetus for the work to carry on and the fight to find the cure.  Another life taken from this dreaded disease, but a life that will not be forgotten.

Through my work with the Connecticut Brain Tumor Alliance and my support of the Yale Brain Tumor Center via the Cusano Family Brain Tumor Fund, I have hopes that further breakthroughs will be discovered and lives will be improved to better treat this diagnosis.

Despite my optimism, we’re still facing obstacles in treating brain tumors, one being the blood-brain barrier.

For those readers who attended Playing for the Cure in 2015, you may recall that the doctors at Yale were working on developing a virus that would be injected into the tumor in an attempt to destroy it directly, without causing harm to any other healthy areas of the body as a result of chemotherapy.  Unlike other types of cancers where treatments can be administered with success, the blood-brain barrier prevents drugs from reaching the brain and affecting the tumor.  However, researchers face the obstacle of raising the funding to take this to a “clinical grade” version for testing in human subjects.

Further, as I mentioned in a recent post, additional findings regarding benign tumors have been identified, namely clues about the molecular processes that drive and cause these tumors to form.  Again, securing the funding for these projects and studies remains a difficult process, but you can help.

As I approach ten years since my miracle, this story is no longer about me and my struggles; rather, the focus has shifted to providing support to the doctors and researchers so that no other patient or family needs to go through this.  Brain tumors do not discriminate based on sex, political affiliation, age, etc.  They are ruthless and destructive, so to this end, I am asking for your support.

If you have not yet done so, please consider joining these efforts to support brain tumor research.  Your first opportunity is on September 14th at the 5th annual Playing for the Cure: Brainstomrin’.  Join my family and I as we raise funds for this groundbreaking  research.  You’ll get to hear, first hand, from brain tumor surgeons and researchers, as they discuss their findings of the studies your past support has funded.  Please, purchase a ticket or contact me to make a contribution if you cannot attend.  There is never a wrong time to participate, nor a donation too small.

Tickets are going fast, so join us for a night out and a celebration of hope.  Your support means the world to us and I know that the doctors and researchers surely appreciate it, too.

And as a bonus, if you’re in attendance, you’ll be in store for a special treat that is brewing…