Dear Thyroid^TM

There are only 40 days left before the Relay for Life!  Can you believe it?  We are still the number one team with a $1,000 lead over second place!  Our team is furiously working away to get ready for the big day.

First, I want to say how great it is to watch the Oscars and see commercials to raise awareness for cervical cancer.  It is so important to raise awareness for all cancers – not just the pink one.

Second, a major thanks and virtual standing ovation go out to Angel McMellin for all of her hard work on our bake sale.  Not only did she bake enough to feed the entire hospital, but she ran our event at the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center and raised $320 for our team!   And thank you again to our supporter, Kim Thompson, who donated her own baked goods to help us in our fundraising efforts.

Saturday’s team meeting was a fun lunch event and we covered a LOT of information.  Thank you to All American Coin & Jewelry Company (www.aacoinco.com) for sponsoring our lunch.  Those crab cakes definitely got the creative ideas flowing!

Important Information For Team Members…

In order to get an official Relay for Life participant shirt, you MUST raise $100 by March 10, 2010!

Again, if you haven’t all ready, I encourage our team members to log in to their participant centers on the ACS website and start updating their personal pages for donations.   There is also an application on facebook that will help you with meeting your $100 personal goals.  Both of these tools will provide donators with official receipts from the American Cancer Society.

Please check your email for an important update on team and individual fundraising incentives provided by the American Cancer Society.

Online Fundraiser Update…

Our online fundraiser is going strong thanks to our wonderful ladies at Dear Thyroid.  We are encouraging the Dear Thyroid community to form fundraising teams to help us in our goal for the American Cancer Society.  The first team to raise $3,000 wins TEN free “Invisible No More” bracelets; the first team to raise $1,500.00 wins FIVE free bracelets; the first team to raise $750.00 wins THREE free bracelets; and the first team to raise $500.00 wins TWO free bracelets.  For more information, contact me or visit us at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/wings2010.  The contest ends March 16^th!

As always, thanks to our supportors and our team members for their tireless fundraising efforts.

Until next week,

Wings of Hope

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With only 47 days left until the relay, Wings of Hope has raised over $3,000.00!  Thank you to those of you who have contributed to our success and have ultimately put us one step closer to a world without cancer!

This week is crunch time for our team and we need all the support we can get.

Thursday, March 4 from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

What’s going on…

Wings of Hope is holding a bake sale at Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center, 601 N Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD.  Angel is furiously baking away in preparation for Thursday.

What we need…

1. We need volunteers to help us run the event any time from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
2. We need more baked good donations.

Please contact Angel at angelmcmellin@live.com or myself at chrisp730@yahoo.com if you can help.

Also, please update your attendance status by Tuesday here.

Thank you to…

- Kim Thompson who is donating her famously yummy red velvet cupcakes.

- Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center for allowing us to host our bake sale in their facility.

Friday, March 5 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

What’s going on…

RFL JHU Committee is hosting a Birthday Bash to raise money for the American Cancer Society at the Homewood Campus Beach.  Wings of Hope will be distributing thyroid cancer awareness materials at the event.

What we need…

Volunteers to help us distribute pamphlets.  Please update your attendance here.

Thank you to…

ThyCa for donating our awareness literature.

Saturday, March 6 at 11:30 a.m.

What’s going on…

Wings of Hope is having our first (and only) team meeting prior to the April 16^th relay at M&S Grill on Pratt Street in Baltimore, MD.

What we will be discussing:

-       Introductions

-       Our bake sale

-       Fundraising efforts

-       Logistics for April 16

What we need…

A final headcount by Thursday, March 4^th.  Please update your response on facebook.

Important Information For Team Members…

In order to get an official Relay for Life participant shirt, you MUST raise $100 by March 10, 2010!

Again, if you haven’t all ready, I encourage our team members to log in to their participant centers on the ACS website and start updating their personal pages for donations.   There is also an application on facebook that will help you with meeting your $100 personal goals.  Both of these tools will provide donators with official receipts from the American Cancer Society.

Online Fundraisers Update…

Our first fundraiser for the $25 Macy’s Gift Card ends today.  Unfortunately, no one on our team raised $500 in the month of February to win the contest.

Our second fundraiser is going strong thanks to our wonderful ladies at Dear Thyroid.  We are encouraging the Dear Thyroid community to form fundraising teams to help us in our goal for the American Cancer Society.  The first team to raise $3,000 wins TEN free “Invisible No More” bracelets; the first team to raise $1,500.00 wins FIVE free bracelets; the first team to raise $750.00 wins THREE free bracelets; and the first team to raise $500.00 wins TWO free bracelets.  For more information, contact me or visit us at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/wings2010.  The contest ends March 16^th!

April 16th Update…

We at Wings of Hope are very excited to announce that our newest team member, Rona Taylor, will be providing our team with some amazing food the night of the relay.  Thank you, Rona!

Thank you to every one for supporting us, our fundraising efforts, and our goal of living in a world free of cancer.

Until next week,

Wings of Hope

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Written by Michelle (Thyroid Cancer Patient)

Dear Thyroid,

Goodbye. You know you left me with no other choice than to end things with you. You changed. At first it was the little things I started noticing. You gave me clues. Of course, when it got to the point that I needed to find out if my suspicions were true, you pulled it together enough to hide your true intentions. You let the doctor and me believe everything was “normal”. You lied to all of us.

After that first intervention to confront you, you were quiet for a bit, a little more careful to cover your tracks. Or maybe I just wanted to believe things were okay between us. Then you started getting sloppy. A little more bold in your malicious actions.

I gave you a year to get your act together, truly believing the story you told the doctor when he ran his tests on you. But my intuition won out. Again, we went to get you checked out. You were good, a real deceiver. You had everyone fooled—but not me. This time I was on to you.

I gave you three months, then we went to see another doctor. This time, your true prescence was felt. This doctor caught you off guard, called you out of hiding. Discovered the unhealthy entity you were becoming. Puffed up and proud you were. Brazen and bold. The doctor made me look in the mirror and confront you. This doctor didn’t buy your story. We called you out.

First the ultrasound. I still believed in you at that point. Denial, I guess. Well, you gave us enough suspicion to investigate you further. Next, the biopsy. That made you mad. You never caused me pain before that. Were you angry you weren’t able to hide anymore? You really changed, didn’t you? You were growing into an entirely different thyroid than the one I’d known for 38 years. Shocking. But at the same time, not. I had my feeling. I listened to my instincts. I wouldn’t take no for an answer and kept digging for the truth.

Well, now you’re gone. I cut you out of my life. It’s only been five days and I feel so much better. A weight gone, literally.

I’m so excited to start my new life without you. I know things might be difficult from time to time, adjusting to this change of living without you. But I’d rather be without you. I’m healthy now. With the support of my family and friends and an amazingly compassionate team of doctors, I am moving on to a better, more fulfilling life.

It was good while it lasted with you. I hope you found peace. Someday, maybe thyroids like you won’t hurt people anymore.

~Michelle

(Bio) I am a 38 year old female in Los Angeles. I first suspected about 18 months ago that I might be hypo-thyroid. Blood tests were “normal”. Exactly a year later, with intensifying symptoms I requested a re-check. Again, “normal”. Listening to my intuition, I sought out an endocrinologist. He poked and prodded and found a nodule. Again, “normal” blood tests. But before the results even came back, he sent me for an ultrasound, followed a few weeks later by an FNA biopsy which was strongly indicative of papillary cancer. Four weeks later, a total thyroidectomy and removal of the central compartment lymph nodes in a three-hour surgery. The nodule was between a grape and walnut in size. I had no difficulty breathing or swallowing. No visible indications until the doctor made me swallow in front of a mirror. Then it just looked like an “adam’s apple-ish” kind of thing moving up and down. I had ever worsening hypo-symptoms with “normal” levels and an intuition that wouldn’t let me stop searching for an answer.

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Share your story with Michelle and lend your support in comments

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The heat is on!  There are only 54 days left until the Relay for Life at Johns Hopkins University.  We are 60% of the way to our goal with a  total of $2,991.00.  Who is going to be the person to break the $3,000.00 mark?  Will it be you?

Again, if you haven’t all ready, I encourage our team members to log in to their participant centers on the ACS website and start updating their personal pages for donations.   There is also an application on facebook that will help you with meeting your $100 personal goals.  Both of these tools will provide donators with official receipts from the American Cancer Society.

We have a lot of exciting things happening the first week of March!

Thursday, March 4^th from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., we are holding our own bake sale at Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center, 601 N Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD.  We need food donations and volunteers to help us run our booth.  You do not have to be a team member to help us, our supporters are just as important as our relayers.  Please contact Angel (angelmcmellin@live.com) or myself (chrisp730@yahoo.com) if you want to help.

Friday, March 5^th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., there is a relay wide fundraiser at Johns Hopkins University.  We need volunteers and fundraising ideas.  If you are interested or want more information, please contact me at chrisp730@yahoo.com.

Saturday, March 6^th at 11:30 a.m. we have a team meeting at M&S Grill, 201 E Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD.  This is an open meeting, so if you have joined team Wings of Hope yet please join us.

We are currently holding two online fundraisers:  The first contest is all thanks to our wonderful friends and supporters at Dear Thyroid.  We are encouraging the Dear Thyroid community to form fundraising teams to help us in our goal for the American Cancer Society.  The first team to raise $3,000 wins TEN free “Invisible No More” bracelets; the first team to raise $1,500.00 wins FIVE free bracelets; the first team to raise $750.00 wins THREE free bracelets; and the first team to raise $500.00 wins TWO free bracelets.  For more information, contact me or visit us at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/wings2010.  The contest ends March 16^th!

Our second online fundraiser is to reward one lucky team member.  The first team member to raise $500 between February 7^th and February 28^th wins a $25 Macy’s Gift Card.  Will it be Jennifer Bridge, Rachel Markus or Samantha Kidwell?  Go to http://main.acsevents.org/goto/wings2010 and donate in honor of your favorite team member today!

We would like to welcome our newest team member:  Melissa Lorenzo.  Welcome to the team!

As always, we would like to thank the generous souls who donated to Wings of Hope this week:  Danielle Collins, Elena Primost, Robyn Goode, Karen Welsh-Mulachy, and Lisa Hensley.

It is crunch time.  We need the support of everyone:  our team members, our supporters, and our communities to ensure our success.  As you can see, there are numerous opportunities to support Wings of Hope, so send us an email today!

Until next week,

Wings of Hope