2020 Lung Cancer Survivor Super Bowl Challenge Kickoff

Because of everyone's generosity, I raised $374 for my challenge.

I kicked off my 2020 Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl challenge fundraising campaign at the Cleveland vs Broncos game in Denver on Sunday, November 3, 2019.

It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, I got to introduce myself, share my lung cancer story, information about lung cancer Awareness Month and my participation in this year's Super Bowl Challenge.  So many tailgaters were more than generous with their time and money.  Browns fans and Broncos fans as well.  It goes to show, no matter which team we root for, we all agree that lung cancer (or any cancer)sucks.
More photos of #CLEvsDEN tailgating HERE.

I have until December 30, 2019 to reach my $50,000 fundraising goal.  Please donate HERE.  No amount is too small.  Every dollar counts, even when you make a minimum donation.

Thanks and Giving

I have so much to be thankful for.

I can't possibly start to list them all. I'm scared I would forget someone. The obvious ones:

• I'm thankful for the power of prayer and positive thinking.

• I'm thankful for modern medicine.
• Lung cancer treatments have kept me alive with a quality of life that is allowing me to be brave enough and my body strong enough to tackle this new brain disease battle.

• I'm thankful for my continued life.
• I was diagnosed with stage iv lung cancer in August 2015. I was recently diagnosed with an ultra rare progressive brain disease.  But we know from researching my cancer brain scans, I've been living with this for over 2 years.  It's even possible I was born with this disease.  We may never know the cause or the time it developed.

• I'm thankful for the love and support from my family and friends, near and far.
• I'm also thankful for the friends that are more like family to me.
• I only know some of these people from being online.  I know I must have met a few of these distant relatives when I was a child and when I was younger. I'm thankful we found each other and are able to stay in touch thanks to Facebook.

• I'm thankful for the kindness of strangers.
• This comes from many places.  It overwhelms me at times to think about the individuals, foundations and organizations that come together to support me, my fundraising, my wellness and my quality of life.

It's the giving season.

Please consider making a donation this Giving Tuesday.

I can't thank the people that have already donated to help me get through my trip to California and recovery from my upcoming brain surgery.  All our savings has been spent on my lung cancer battle.  There is no savings and very limited paid time off work to get us through the next 10-12 weeks.

A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help collect needed funds to get me through this difficult time.  To make a donation to my Go Fun Me account, click the DONATE button.

Lisa Moran Battles Brain Disease

If you prefer to make a Tax Deductible donation this Giving Tuesday, please consider donating to these charities that are near and dear to me.

• Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge 2018
• This will benefit the Chris Draft Family Foundation/Team Draft
• If over $1000 is donated to my campaign, 50% of the donations will benefit the Lung Cancer Colorado Fund.
• Angel Flight West
• This organization is helping me arrange a free flight to California for my brain bypass surgery.
• Stanford Neurosurgery Department
• You can specify your donation be given to my surgeon, Dr. Gary Steinberg or to the Moyamoya Center to help in discovering the cause of this terrible disease and develop new treatments.
• LifeSpark Cancer Resources 

This organization has provided me with free reiki and healing touch sessions that's relieved me from physical pain and stress.

Now, on to my Thanksgiving Traditions.

As I'm posting this blog entry, I'm watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. To attend in person is a bucket list item of mine.  I have the mac n cheese in the crockpot. Some of you know my "secret ingredient".  Since moving to Colorado, Thanksgiving weekend 1999, it seems more traditional to have Thanksgiving dinner with friends than family.  Jeremy and I will be joining friends for dinner today. For those of you that have opened your homes and set a place at your thanksgiving table for me,

THANK YOU!  

What's in a Date?

August is a very momentous time for me. August 11, 2015 was the date I found out I have adenocarcinoma, non small cell lung cancer. Then I found out it was inoperable and incurable on August 14, 2015. This is the date I use as my Cancerversary date. Cancerversary~ the anniversary date of my lung cancer diagnosis.

Monday is my 2 Year Cancerversary. I really never thought I would still be alive today. The odds are against me, but I'm beating those odds every day, every hour.

I don't have too many not so amazing things to share over the last year. But the one thing is a fairly major concern. I was NED ( no evidence of disease) for approximayely 6 months. In October 2016 we started monitoring tumor growth activity in my upper right lung lobe. I had two blood biopsies to see if my cancer had developed a new mutation that is resistant to my current treatment. No information came back from the blood biopsies. I had a needle biopsy in May 2017. The biopsy was unable to collect a good sample and my lung clasped. A clasped lung equals my first overnight hospital stay.

I had radiation to this new tumor and I'm continuing with my current chemo pill/targeted therapy. Now we'll monitor this activity and see if the radiation did it's job.

One thing I must mention. We have lost many prominent people and advocates in the lung cancer online/social media community over the last year. These are people, putting themselves out there to educate, support and change the face of lung cancer. Every new death is a hard blow. They are missed terribly. I will continue advocating in their memory for much needed research to manage and end this terrible disease.

So many amazing things have happened to me since August 2016. These are just some highlights.

• I have my own beer! I was able to attend the keg tapping party in Dayton, OH for Lisa's Luck Amber Ale.
  
• I worked with the American Lung Association and participated in an award winning video to educate and spread  information about the importance of tumor testing.

• I shared my story at the Denver Lung Force Walk.
  
• I checked an item off my bucket list. I sewed my own dress and entered myself in a pinup contest. I was the first runner up and won prizes.
  
  

• I ran the Run the Rocks 5k and turned 46 in the same week.
  
• I participated in a Lilly Pharmaceutical advisory board and got to meet my lung cancer bff.
  

  
• I entered the Team Draft Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge...and I won a trip to Houston the week of Super Bowl and attended the Taste of the NFL.
  
• Thanks to Do It For The Love, I attended a Social Distortion concert in Denver, was given the VIP treatment and got to meet the band.
  
• Because I was a first time attendee, I was granted a full travel scholarship to Washington, D.C. to attend the Lungevity Hope Summit.

I can't wait to see what comes to me between now and August 2018. With your help I may be able to add Lungevity Hope Summit 2018 to next year's list. Please help me celebrate surviving another year with stage iv lung cancer and make a donation. If I reach my fundraising goal, I can qualify for a full travel scholarship, attend the summit and spend time with my long distance lung cancer friends.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

What is HOPE?

I was diagnosed with stage iv lung cancer in August 2015. I didn't register for the 2016 LUNGevity Hope Summit. At the time, I was just getting used to life with lung cancer. I followed the social media posts and photos. It looked like a good time was had by all. It gave me hope and inspiration. I got to attend and be in the photos this year.

Hope Summit features inspirational speakers, medical expert forums, lung cancer survivor-specific sessions, and opportunities for lung cancer survivors to connect with other survivors and share their stories. Their stories of hope. Hope Summit is appropriately named because that's what this last weekend delivered. I'm at a new step in my treatment plan. You would think being immersed in three full days of lung cancer talk would be depressing and make me worry about these next steps. It was just the opposite.

As a first time attendee, I applied for and was granted airfare and hotel stay to attend this year's Lungevity Hope Summit in Washington DC . Lungevity provides this so all lung cancer patients have an opportunity to participate in this event.

I also attended an advocate day, which was on the eve of the Hope Summit kick off. I was interested in finding out information on advocacy and how to be more involved, if possible.

On Thursday evening I went out to dinner with a fairly large group of lung cancer patients and survivors. This was one of my favorite moments of my trip. I find it interesting that 17 people, with 17 different backgrounds, 17 different lung cancer stories and probably 17 different combined lung cancer treatments and/or drugs and we instantly bond with one another. Some have had it rough and some have been to hell and back. Some have been dealing with this for months and others for 12+ years. But having lung cancer is our common ground. I heard a good comparison once. Someone was taking about skiing. He said the downhill skier going 70+mph has the same adrenaline rush as the beginning skier, even when they aren't going the same speeds. I'm guessing the 17 of us have the same hatred for lung cancer.

Having time with other lung cancer patients and survivors was my best part of going to Hope Summit. It gave me the opportunity to thank two of them, in particular, in person.

I was at the top of my physical fitness game when I was diagnosed. One of my first fears was the possibility of never running again or working out like I used to. But I watched videos of Juanita power lifting and doing what she loved and what she did before lung cancer. That gave me hope.

The other was Patty. I would see her online, participating in events with Team Draft. Her smile and attitude would shine in the photos and videos.

I knew I wanted to be a part of that. It gave me hope that one day I would. And I did! Down to the wire, Patty was my biggest competition during the Team Draft Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge. If anyone was going to raise more funds than me and knock me out of the running, I wanted it to be Patty.

Several weeks ago this question came up. What is hope? Without thinking too hard about it, this acronym came to mind.

Hope

is

Having Optimistic Perspectives Everyday.

Party With a Purpose

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.

Good News Spreads Fast

My Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge is going well. At the moment, I'm in the running for the third place prize. I'm approaching the halfway milestone of my $10,000 fundraising goal.

#RallyAroundLisa

I've turned to social media to advertise and promote my fundraiser and spread awareness. One of these methods is Thunderclap. You can help promote  my Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge Fundraiser. By signing up you will help share a scheduled message on Twitter, Facebook and Tumbler.

Click HERE to join my Thunderclap.

What is Thunderclap?

Thunderclap is a tool that lets a message be heard when you and your friends say it together. Think of it as an "online flash mob." Join a Thunderclap, and you and others will share the same message at the same time, spreading an idea through Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr that cannot be ignored.

I need the support of 100 people before December 26. With Thunderclap, I'm not asking for donations. I just need 100 people to go to my Thunderclap and click "Support". That's it. If I reach 100 clicks to support me, my Super Bowl Challenge will blast out over social media, one time, at the same time. There is potential of sharing my fundraiser with thousands of thousands of people. 

Click HERE to join my Thunderclap.

Thank you for your support.