In April, a woman I knew from Baton Rouge lost her battle with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The Amy Selkirk Breast Cancer Research Fund was important to her, and at her funeral, her family asked for donations in lieu of flowers.
I’d already made my April donation, so I knew this was where my May donation money would go. I learned so much about TNBC from her, and I know she fought so hard for years — beating many statistics along the way.
During her funeral service, her doctor said her time in medical trials would serve many women to come. This was something I’d never thought of, and it was very comforting. I hope her friends and family found peace in it, too.
I’d never heard of this fund until her passing, which is heartbreaking, but I’m grateful to be able to support it in a small way. The Amy Selkirk Breast Cancer Research Fund was created after Amy Selkirk’s battle with TNBC — which she lost just one year after being diagnosed.
The first research project supported through the fund was to evaluate if a vaccine using a patient’s own dendritic cells would be effective against a deadly form of TNBC that is unresponsive to standard therapies.
The trial completed enrollment of 10 patients with TNBC, and as of May 2018, 6 of the 10 patients have no evidence of disease more than 3 years after diagnosis. The potential value of the vaccine will not be fully determined until every patient has completed their three-year enrollment in early 2019.
The fact that there is even any possible treatment to provide hope and time to TNBC patients is incredible. I’m leaving the link for more information and to donate here.
It makes me so sad to see cancer cut another life short, and I truly hope for a cure — too many of us have been affected over the years.
I also want to note that I actually made a second donation this month, and it went toward The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project provides 24/7 counseling and information for LGBTQ+ youth.
I made the donation after reading a book by an anti-trans author (I got the book from the library in hopes of not supporting the author financially) and wanted to offset the pain this person’s words have had on the LGBTQ+ community.
It should also be noted that this book was part of a series I started reading before I ever knew this author’s stance. I will not be reading any other books from the author moving forward.
I don’t recommend supporting problematic folks, of course, but think of the change we could make if everyone donated after supporting a person or an institution to offset it?
For example, I recently found out that all of the major cell phone service providers have supported anti-choice legislation… so I’ll likely make a regular donation to pro-choice organizations to offset a service I need.
Food for thought!
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