Stage 4 Breast Cancer Research needs more funding for research to find a cure

Will everyone please take the time today and call in and be a voice for your state to the American Cancer Society campaign for cancer research, here is a basic script or you can follow this link to listen to my voice mail-

Please go listen and post yours as well! Follow this link and click on the file "THERESA" Houston, Tx http://www.acscan.org/voice/?view=TX

Hi, my name is ________ from [city, state].

Cancer research saves lives. That's why I'm asking Congress to increase funding for cancer research.

Then, answer one of the following questions:

With the billions of dollars being cut from cancer research funding, we are all painted into a corner and we will have no where to turn to-the majority of stage IV/metastatic breast cancer patients rely on cancer clinical trials and research studies to extend our lives and to help with palliative treatments and pain management care. Please do not allow your voice to go unheard for a loved one or for yourself, please do not let us die in agony and defeat! 

Well, It is a New Year at last! 2013 is here! 2013 is time for change! I wanted to give the 14,341 signers and supporters of this petition an update as I am responsible for what happens on the back end of this petition after you have done your part; well, as promised, I forwarded the 12,500 + signatures that were collected between the start of petition until mid October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) and also included in the package was a beautifully written letter by Noreen Fraser Foundation to be considered as a stage IV/Metastatic organization to receive much needed funds from the Warriors In Pink consumer's choice list when purchasing WIP products. I made 17 packets for each board member and I had it sent by priority mail to ensure that it made it there on October 13th, which is the honorary day for Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness but alas, all I have rec'd from them is a letter stating that they have rec'd the packet and they ensure that it will be given to the proper department. It is now January 19, 2013 and I have still heard nothing nor has NFF but I will not give up! My advocacy group has built a facebook page that is meant to bring awareness to the stage IV breast cancer patient's life and we are asking for your support-please go "LIKE" our page www.facebook.com/IMBCAPPP and donate any pink lapel pins and ribbons that you can so we can recycle these pins and ribbons into a thought provoking artistic collage that we can use to count the 40,000 women and men who die of this catastrophic disease each year. Our advocacy group intends to use this at protests, conference, and at public outings during May which is cancer research month and in October which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Also, if anyone has a personal story they would like to share on the facebook page, please email it to me and I will be sure to post it in the "Stage IV Stories" Album! 
Please keep circulating the petition on your facebook pages as the goal is to keep pushing this petition at the board members of FordCares/Warriors In Pink until they make change! They are excluding a very important community in their goal to eradicate breast cancer, they are oppressing the dying population and we refuse to be written off! Thank you for your past and ongoing support! 

Partial transcript taken from a letter written by "Bestbird-Anne Loeser" to help raise aawareness about the need for more Metastatic Research funding-Thank You "Anne"

"There are certainly advantages to becoming "aware" of something to the point of vigilance, and most of the existing breast cancer information has been confined to early detection. The inference is that early detection saves lives and that if caught early, the disease is curable. Now for the bombshell: this disease is not curable. Nearly 30% of those whose breast cancer is classified as "early stage" (Stage 0, I, or II) will eventually develop metastatic disease. A fair portion of Stage III patients will become metastatic, and 6% to 10% of all newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients have metastatic disease from the start. So the conservative estimated percentage of patients who will ultimately die from breast cancer is an eye-opening 34% to 40%. Metastatic disease carries a median survival of 3 years, and there has been no statistically significant improvement in the past twenty years.* Certainly nothing to gaily wave banners about.

Given that more than 1 out of 3 persons diagnosed with breast cancer will eventually die of it, it's time to pin awareness about metastatic disease to the October breast cancer message.

What is metastatic breast cancer, which is also referred to as Stage IV breast cancer? It's cancer that started in the breast and spread to other organs such as the liver, lungs, bones and brain. Today there are about 162,000 women - and men - living with metastatic breast cancer in the U.S. Some of them developed metastatic disease 5, 10, 15, or even 20 or more years after their initial diagnosis. Many are relatively young people in their 20's and 30s with growing families. Based upon 2011 estimates, approximately 39,520 women and 450 men are expected to die from metastatic breast cancer annually. The sad news is that this figure hasn't changed much since 2000 despite many years of "Breast Cancer Awareness."

Treatment protocols for metastatic breast cancer and non-metastatic breast cancer are fairly similar. These include chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, hormonal therapy, targeted biologic therapy, bisphosphonates, and/or other medications. The difference is that people diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer are treated for a limited time in order to eradicate their disease – hopefully forever. Conversely, people diagnosed with metastatic disease will remain on some sort of therapy for the rest of their lives, with a few possible breaks between treatments. Their treatment is considered palliative – it is meant to control the cancer and its symptoms while providing as good a quality of life as possible, but not to eliminate the disease indefinitely. As you might imagine, this can be devastating news to the newly diagnosed metastatic breast cancer patient.

Most metastatic breast cancer patients proceed from one treatment to the next when their disease progresses. After they have exhausted all of the available treatments - including clinical trials – they've arrived at the end of their list. This can have an absolutely demoralizing psychological impact, as it implies that there's no hope left. A simple but currently challenging option for these patients is to give them access to promising new but unapproved therapies. This is referred to as "compassionate use." Currently, compassionate use is legal but tightly restricted based upon criteria that can be terribly difficult to meet. Relaxing the compassionate use guidelines for metastatic breast cancer patients would enable them to undergo additional therapies that could potentially prolong their lives and well-being."

http://www.warriorsinpink.ford.com/we-are-warriors/

Here is the FordCares.Com/Warriorsinpink page which lists all 4 Non-Profit Organizations that the consumer may choose from like SGK, YSC, The Pink Fund, Dr. Love but what about an organization which represents the Metastatic/Stage IV Breast Cancer Community? All we ask is for a chance to be a choice too! Organizations like Metavivior, MBCN or the Noreen Fraser Foundation-each having the ability to advocate and fund grants for stage IV breast cancer research are hoping to achieve this opportunity with this petition! Also, I would like to add that it would also be nice for FordCares/Warriorsinpink to add a model of courage/Stage IV story to the existing 11 "survivor" stories. Let the voices of the "uncured" be heard too! So if anyone has a story to share-PLEASE post a brief summary in the comments section as I will be printing the comments out for Ford to read as well. Thank you again for all of your support in advocating for a change!

IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG HAUL!!!!!
Please review the 30 for 30 campaign that Metavivor is championing!
http://www.metavivor.org/Awareness_30430.html
TOGETHER-WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

www.mbcn.org

www.noreenfraserfoundation.org