This evening, the LA Clippers’ Spirit Dance Team joined other NBA and NCAA dance squads that have honored Keasha’s memory by performing dance tributes. During the Clippers’ game against the Denver Nuggets, the Spirit Dance Team performed a specially choreographed dance in Keasha’s honor. Through their dance tribute, the Spirit Dance Team is helping Team Draft change the face of lung cancer by helping us spread the word that anybody can get lung cancer—even non-smokers like Keasha.
As a former Charlotte Hornets Honeybee Dancer , Keasha loved dancing. It gave her strength and hope. And thanks to the Spirit Dance Team and the other NBA and NCAA dance squads that have performed dance tributes, Keasha is still dancing today.
Team Draft ended the West Coast leg of its national campaign to change the face of lung cancer with a stop at St. Joseph’s Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment in Orange, California where we met DeeDee Weathers-Cox, a former Laker Girl who is using dance therapy to help cancer survivors. During free weekly classes, DeeDee uses dance not only as way to help cancer survivors stay fit, but to treat the psychological scares that often accompany a cancer diagnosis.
Like DeeDee, Keasha understood the therapeutic power of dance. Following her first chemotherapy treatment, she and Chris made a video of her dancing to send a message to their friends and family that they would dance, smile, and live no matter what. Read the full article on the Orange County Register’s website.
Today, Team Draft had the privilege of touring UC San Francisco’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCSF) with lung cancer survivor and advocate, Bonnie J. Addario. Five years ago, Bonnie was diagnosed with Stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. She was given only a 2% chance of survival. Like Keasha, Bonnie is a fighter, and after life-saving surgery performed at UCSF, she is now cancer free. But, for Bonnie the fight isn’t over.
Bonnie is a tireless advocate. She is the founder of both the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (BJALCF) and its partner organization, the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI). Through research, awareness, and advocacy efforts, BJALCF and ALCMI are working to increase the survival rate for lung cancer.
Team Draft is proud to call Bonnie a friend, and we look forward to working closely with BJALCF and ALCMI as we change the face of lung cancer.
On February 16, 2011, Keasha Danced! Today marks the anniversary of Keasha’s first chemotherapy treatment, and we remember a woman who courageously faced lung cancer, showing us all with every breath that we all need to hold onto life and love with both hands for as long as we can.
Today, Team Draft visited UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, where we had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Edward B. Garon, Assistant Clinical Professor and Director of the Medical Oncology Program in Thoracic Malignancies at the David Geffen School of Medicine, to discuss the future of lung cancer treatment.
According Dr. Garon, this is an exciting period in the history of lung cancer treatment. Thanks to advances in molecular tumor mutation testing, researchers and treating physicians such as Dr. Garon and his colleagues are developing effective personal lung cancer treatments designed to extend and, ultimately, save lives. As a member of the 14-hospital Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium, the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center is on the cutting-edge of this revolutionary treatment approach—an approach that is already starting to yield results. For example, the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium has already developed targeted drugs aimed at two of the mutations known to cause lung cancer. These drugs are extending the lives of some patients by as much as 10 months.
Echoing, a message we have being hearing from lung cancer researchers, treating physicians, and advocates across the country, Dr. Garon noted that the key to making even greater strides is funding. Team Draft, is committed to raising lung cancer awareness and increasing badly needed research funding by changing the face of lung cancer. But it takes a team to tackle cancer, and we need your help. Respond and Donate
Team Draft kicked off the West Coast leg of its national campaign to change the face of lung cancer with a stop at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer (CFCC) at UC Irvine. Team Draft visited CFCC to learn about an exciting new weapon in the cancer treatment arsenal: music.
Music therapists at the CFCC’s infusion center are using music to treat pain, anxiety, and nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy. After just one 30 minute music therapy session, patients report a 45% decrease in pain and a 65% decrease in both anxiety and nausea.
“Music must take rank as the highest of the fine arts—as the one which, more than any other, ministers to human welfare.” - Herbert Spencer
Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the country. It kills more people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney, and melanoma cancer combined. While these facts may be disheartening, there is hope. Team Draft took a trip to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to meet with Dr. Pierre Massion, Ingram Associate Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology, to learn how advancements in early detection and treatment are saving extending lives.
Thanks to the dedication and commitment of researchers and treating physicians like Dr. Massion and his colleagues at Vanderbilt-Ingram, we now have a mechanism to detect lung cancer early, which dramatically increases the survival rate for lung cancer patients. By submitting high-risk patients to regular spiral CT scans and CAT scans, doctors have decreased the mortality rate by 20%.
Vanderbilt-Ingram and the other members of the 14-hospital Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium (LCMC) are also revolutionizing the way lung cancer is treated by promoting molecular tumor mutation testing for lung cancer patients. It is through such testing performed at Vanderbilt-Ingram that Keasha’s particular mutation was identified. Molecular testing is one of the keys to developing effective personalized lung cancer treatments. As a result of these efforts, the LCMC has already developed targeted drugs aimed at two of the mutations known to cause lung cancer. These drugs are extending the lives of some patients by as much as 10 months.
Although there has been significant progress over the last decade, more funding is necessary to maintain the momentum. Team Draft is dedicated to raising lung cancer awareness and increasing badly needed research funding by changing the face of lung cancer, but it takes a team to tackle cancer, and we need your help. Respond and Donate
The Charlotte Bobcats’ Lady Cats dance team paid tribute to Keasha tonight with a special dance dedicated to her memory performed during the Bobcats’ game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
As a former Charlotte Hornets Honeybee Dancer , Keasha loved dancing. It gave her strength and hope. And after her first chemotherapy treatment, she and Chris made a video of her dancing to send a message to her friends and family that she would keep dancing no matter what, and as a reminder to always dance, smile, and live.
Thanks to the Lady Cat’s and the other NBA and NCAA dance squads that have performed dance tributes, Keasha is still dancing today. See Keasha’s dance after her first chemo treatment on the Team Draft Vimeo page.
Team Draft travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina today—a city that holds a special place in our hearts. Although born in Anderson, South Carolina, Charlotte was Keasha’s adopted hometown before she moved to Atlanta to be with Chris. And it is in Charlotte where Chris and Keahsa first met and fell in love. At the time, Chris was playing for the Carolina Panthers and Keasha was working for Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals.
Team Draft came to Charlotte to visit the Levine Cancer Institute (LCI) at Carolinas Medical Center. Team Draft toured LCI and met with hospital administrators, doctors, and staff members in support of our efforts to promote cancer awareness, research, and scholarship, and to improve the patient treatment experience by identifying and promoting best practices.
As one of the newest cancer centers in the country, LCI is revolutionizing the cancer treatment model by redefining the traditional cancer center. Traditionally, cancer care services are centralized on flagship campuses, but LCI is taking the opposite approach, offering compassionate, state-of-the-art care to patients at facilities throughout both North and South Carolina. By eliminating natural distance barriers between cancer centers, LCI is giving patients the home field advantage in their fight against cancer.
