Fighting for my Mom

Hey everybody,

I know this is supposed to be a Blog about comedy, but I need to write a few words about my mom. Without my mom, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have inherited the creative gene needed to create new jokes.

My mom was recently diagnosed with Lung Cancer. A lot of people have been giving my family and me their good wishes and prayers. We very much appreciate this support and thank everybody. It has been a very nervous time for us because we didn’t know what the future would hold.

I’m writing this to inform everybody of what we’re dealing with and also, so I can keep track of what our doctor has told us. I have placed hyperlinks in this document so that you can easily click on the link for more detailed information.

I want to say that if you are ever dealing with cancer, I encourage you to start by going to the American Cancer Society’s web page www.cancer.org or call them at 1·800·227·2345. They are a source for both information and support. Their goals are Research, Education, Advocacy, and Service for cancer patients and their loved ones.

As you may know, I have been active in helping the ACS raise much needed awareness and donations through my involvement with the Arcadia, California Relay For Life as well as comedy show fundraisers for the ACS in general. I’m very grateful that the work of the ACS and other organizations have taken the prognosis of cancer from a death sentence to a treatable disease in many cases. 2 out of every 5 people will be told “you have cancer” in their lifetimes, and that number is too high.

It is taking a lot of time, but through the efforts of these organizations, we ARE MAKING PROGRESS. Luckily, we found out that my mom’s cancer prognosis is good. She has been diagnosed with Adenacarcinoma of the Lung. They also call it a bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, which is a non-small cell cancer. If you get cancer of the lungs, this is probably the one to get. While it is not curable, it is treatable and the doctor thinks that based on her being an Asian female, non-smoker (she did smoke lightly for about 10 years many years ago), the treatment option should be very effective. In addition, there is something called an EGFR mutation that my mom (and many others) may have, that may make the treatment even more effective.

The lab work was unable to determine this through the biopsy because they could not obtain enough of a sample. We are not opting to do another biopsy at this point because the EGFR mutation will only help out the situation and not harm it if she has it or not. The treatment will be a drug called Tarceva.

Tarceva is a once a day pill that has less side effects than other therapies. It works by blocking a certain protein that is important for tumor cell growth. This therapy should be way less invasive and therefore more comfortable for my mom as she battles cancer.

Coincidentally, the Arcadia Relay for Life took place this weekend, June 26 and 27 in the infield of the Santa Anita Racetrack. It was like a picnic with entertainment designed to spread awareness of the disease and to raise money to find a cure.

So far we raised over $100,000!!!!

We're still taking donations until July 31... For more information or to make a donation, please visit this site Arcadia Relay For Life Event

Thank you for reading this.