Celebrating the thrills of victory, reflecting on the agony of defeat and bounding obstacles while living life with terminal, stage iv lung cancer with leptomingeal disease, incurable, progressive brain disease, chronic kidney failure and hydrocephalus while recovering from a debilitating hemorrhagic stroke.
Elizabeth Dessureault, wife, mother, lung cancer advocate and fighter
She was so young and vibrant. It's just not fair. She was very positive through all her ups and downs. She raised lung cancer awareness and spirits with her attitude and just breathe bracelets.
I have a From Lizzie's Lungs bracelet. It was a gift from another lung cancer survivor, Nicole Russell. Nicole's 1 year cancerversary was yesterday. A cancerversary is the one year anniversary of one's lung cancer diagnosis. She is beating the odds, changing the face of lung cancer and surviving stage iv lung cancer for over one year. Congratulations Nicole. I love you and want to thank you for your friendship and support on this roller coaster called lung cancer.
Eighteen years ago, in 1999, I wanted to start my own business. I dreamed of being a party/event planner. But I also wanted to work in the non profit sector. I came up with an idea of planning parties for fundraising events. An example would be a birthday party. It's your birthday. Instead of having a party and receiving gifts, you ask your guests to make a donation to the charity of your choice. I even named my business, Party With a Purpose. But I had just moved to a new state. I was not familiar with the town and vendors that I would need to collaborate with to plan successful events. Party With a Purpose never came to life.
Fast forward to 2017. I won a trip to the Taste of the NFL in Houston, TX. The Taste of the NFL rallies the country's top chefs and the NFL's greatest players to raise money in support of food banks throughout the United States. They raise funds online, Taste of the NFL events hosted by individual NFL teams and the Super Bowl Taste of the NFL -The Party With a Purpose®.
Yes, Party With a Purpose!!!!! Something that I dreamed of so long ago is real. And I got to be a part of it. I want to thank Team Draft and the Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge for the opportunity to be a part of this year's Party With a Purpose.
I got choked up in my video because of the special meaning behind Party With a Purpose.