With 2021 being the 10-year anniversary of Kim being cancer free of Lobular Breast Cancer we thought our tour across America would be a great opportunity to celebrate this milestone and a chance to give back. We chose the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance (LBCA) to fundraise for as they are one of the only organizations focused on Kim’s type of cancer. It was a cancer out of sight of Kim’s, and many others, annual mammograms.
The LBCA is a patient led lobular breast cancer advocacy organization with an international advisory board of invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) expert scientists and clinicians, dedicated to increasing knowledge of lobular breast disease and promoting and funding lobular breast cancer research. The LBCA strives for a world in which lobular breast cancer is found early, treated effectively, and eradicated permanently.
It was not until 2015, that ILC as a breast cancer subtype was understood or even recognized as different from the more common invasive ductal carcinoma. But 10-12% of women diagnosed with breast cancer each year have ILC, and it is a more common cancer in women than cancers of the kidney, brain, pancreas, liver, or ovaries! Equally upsetting, ILC often metastasizes to unique locations in the body different from ductal tumors, and some evidence suggests that long-term outcomes of ILC may be worse than for those with ductal breast cancer. Despite how many women ILC afflicts, while information and research about ductal breast cancer abounds – it is not so for ILC. Research is in its infancy. And public awareness that ILC is a different type of breast cancer—even recognition within the medical community—is slight. It is a huge deal but getting little attention!
Kim and I have been working with the LBCA for the last two months learning about the organization and coming up with a fundraising campaign. Laurie, Julie and Colleen have been an absolute pleasure to work with. This summer our goal is to raise $100,000 for the LBCA. It’s a lofty objective but one that we plan on reaching. We are hoping that those that have and will follow our journey will see us as an example of what is possible and how to get back up after falling down. Lord knows we’ve had our downs, but the ups seem to make it all worthwhile.
Please follow and share our journey. We hope that you will support the LCBA and our goal of raising $100,000.
