Personal Stories

TARGETCANCER FOUNDATION GALA SPOTLIGHT: LISA CRAINE

Leading up to the 8th Annual TargetCancer Foundation Gala, we will be sharing stories and perspectives on the gala from many of the people who make up the TargetCancer Foundation community. 

Lisa Craine is a patient advocate, a patient mentor, and a cholangiocarcinoma survivor. TargetCancer Foundation was fortunate to have her as a featured speaker at the 2016 Gala. Pictured above are Lisa and TargetCancer Foundation volunteer Jamie Dickerson.  Continue reading

TARGETCANCER FOUNDATION GALA SPOTLIGHT: A FUTURE FASHION MOGUL

Leading up to the 8th Annual TargetCancer Foundation Gala, we will be sharing stories and perspectives on the gala from many of the people who make up the TargetCancer Foundation community. 

In this post, Lauren (age 12) talks about using her “Day as a Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Designer in New York” item that she won in the 2016 gala auction.  Continue reading

Eight years.

The following post is written by Kristen Palma Poth, TargetCancer Foundation President

Eight. It is a number that carries a meaning for me that I never could have imagined or predicted. The eighth month, August, is the month that I lost my husband Paul at age 39 to the vicious and rare cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma. While August has always carried some angst- the end of summer, the anticipation of the approaching school year- it now burdens me with the memories of our last weeks together and his last days of life. They are memories that I mercifully never think about during the rest of the year. My brain has become expertly skilled at letting in information, thoughts, and memories only as needed, a clear survival technique of the subconscious. But that same brain works on a calendar and as it turns to the eighth month my brain and body feel and remember. Continue reading

Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill 2017

Citizen Advocacy – DC legislators welcome our passionate voices during Rare Disease Week 2017

by Bill Drake, TargetCancer Foundation Advocacy Council Member and Rare Disease Advocate 

While my esophageal cancer remains in a state of remission, I’ve been seeking opportunities to help support the efforts of organizations like TargetCancer Foundation. Continue reading

Endurance Test: Overcoming Obstacles in the Run to Support TargetCancer

By Karen Dempsey, TargetCancer Foundation Advocacy Council Member

How do you push through injury, illness, and a bitter cold winter to train for your first marathon?

For Martin Arts, the answer is straightforward: He promised he’d do it. Continue reading

Keytruda – what a 40% response rate has meant to me.

By Bill Drake, TargetCancer Foundation Advocacy Council Member

On September 11, 2013 I was diagnosed with an adenocarcinoma malignant tumor on my esophagus at my GI junction, inside my GI specialist’s office on Cape Cod. I was there for my routine “over 50” colonoscopy. Continue reading

A Marathon Run Against Cholangiocarcinoma

By Karen Dempsey, TargetCancer Foundation Advocacy Council Member

As Lauren Sanford and her fiancé, DJ Webster, plan their upcoming wedding — and their life together — they have much to celebrate. They’re surrounded by the love of good friends and family, and memories of their childhoods in Saugus, Massachusetts, the town where both grew up. Continue reading

Team TargetCancer Foundation 2017 Runner Profile: Daniel Rothenberg

By TargetCancer Foundation Advocacy Council Member Kim Balkus

Every marathon runner has a unique story. But very few runners not only know how to complete a 26.2 mile run, but also know their way around a scientific laboratory. Expertise in both areas gives Team TargetCancer Foundation member Daniel Rothenberg a unique perspective on the importance of the research funds he is raising through his 2017 marathon run. Continue reading

TargetCancer Foundation Gala Spotlight: Leslie Condon

TargetCancer Foundation Gala Spotlight: DJ Webster

Leading up to the 7th Annual TargetCancer Foundation Gala, we will be sharing stories and perspectives on the gala from the many people who make up the TargetCancer Foundation community.

The post below is from DJ Webster, longtime volunteer, intern, and friend of TargetCancer Foundation. Readers may recall DJ’s powerful piece written for the TargetCancer Foundation Blog in 2014. Pictured above are DJ and and his fiancé Lauren at the 2014 TargetCancer Foundation Gala.  Continue reading