Prevention is the Best Medicine!
A message for all cancer patients and caregivers. Take care of your health and if you are in cancer treatment, be sure to schedule an appointment in person, or TeleHealth phone or zoom. Don’t let COVID concerns get in the way!
President Roosevelt proclaimed April as Cancer Control Month. Each successive president has done the same, raising awareness about the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer to increase the survival rate and health of Americans.
Practicing a healthy lifestyle including good nutrition, regular exercise, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol can reduce your cancer risk. Timely cancer screenings can also help prevent cancer or catch it early when treatment can be most successful. If you haven’t had a good checkup this year, schedule one soon. Early detection and Prevention is the Best Medicine!
Don’t let COVID keep you from your doctor’s visits or follow up on your cancer treatment!
Spring is Here- A time of Reflection and Hope!
Soon, we will be celebrating Easter and/or Passover. In our house, it will be ‘both’ since I celebrate the traditions of Passover and Jack will be participating in an Easter Service. However you celebrate, or ‘what’ you choose to celebrate, we can all celebrate having ‘survived’ a year of living with fear and uncertainly, and many new rules that kept us from family and friends. Now, we can finally feel Hope, with the multiple vaccines and new therapies that are now available.
We now will be able to see family and friends, ‘start’ school, return to jobs and find ’our new normal’.
Sadly, some of us have had COVID, and others have lost family or friends to this devastating virus and so it will also be a ‘bittersweet’time to mourn and remember, and also to be Thankful for our Blessings!
Best Wishes, Barbara and Jack
We Will Survive™!
Dear Friends:
We look back on the ‘year that was’ and feel grateful that we did ‘Survive’ and are still Surviving. Not without pain, fear, loss, loneliness but also with new knowledge, understanding and awe. We saw advances in the research and treatment of COVID and also in cancer. We also learned that through collaboration and dedication, so much more can be accomplished. For cancer patients and caregivers, we had to be even more vigilant to stay strong and safe. We are very fortunate to have the scientists, medical staff, healthcare professionals and all of the 1st Responders who have been there for us. We now have better ‘tools’ for treating this devastating Virus and Vaccines that will save lives, jobs, and help us return to a new ‘normal’.
We have heard from many of you that you are concerned about getting the vaccine. Some of you are choosing to ‘wait’. It is your choice. But, we hope that you will look at the links on our website with the latest facts and information from leading scientific resources. Jack and I have had our 1st shot and will have the 2nd one this week. We have had no negative effects and are still remaining careful. We feel that it is the right decision for us and one that makes us feel less anxious. We recently had the opportunity to appear on aztv about Cancer and COVID. https://youtu.be/AGje6RcJWSc
We appreciated this opportunity to share our own experience and advice with other cancer patients and families. Before you make any decision, be sure to talk to your doctor. And, remember that regardless of the vaccine, you need to continue a healthy lifestyle: eat right. get your sleep, get outdoors if possible, and communicate with friends and family even if it is only virtually. A reminder to all of the caregivers out there:’If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of someone else’. And, we are always available by phone or email if you have any questions or concerns.
Warm Regards, Barbara and Jack
623 570 0371
barbarak@azmyelomanetwork.org
The Cancer Caregivers AZ ™ Mission:
Our Mission is to Promote Collaboration, Build Awareness, Provide Education and Resources that Build Caregivers Skills and Advocate for Improved Treatment and Quality of Life for Cancer Patients, their Families, and All Cancer Caregivers.
CARE Act Extended for 2021
‘You can still help cancer patients and caregivers by donating ‘now’ for 2021. Your donation of $300 per person or $600 per couple is available. We need your help more than ever as we continue our free cancer education and resource services ‘virtually’. You can contact us by phone.
Thanks to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – passed by Congress this spring – each family in the US is eligible for a one-time $300 charitable tax deduction.
Here’s how it works. If you give $300 this year to a qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit like Arizona Myeloma Network, AzMN, you can claim it as a deduction, even if you (like most American families) take the standard deduction.
For donors who itemize their deductions, the CARES Act temporarily lifts the deduction cap of annual gross income (AGI) to qualified charities like AzMN from 60% to 100%. This means that in some situations, you could actually pay zero income tax for the year.
P.S. Please note that we are not attorneys or financial planners. It is important to consult a trusted professional about all decisions related to taxes.
Arizona Myeloma Network (AzMN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity organization EIN 32-0169742
Thank you everyone for participating and supporting our 1st Annual Virtual Cancer Caregivers Awareness Race! You can still purchase our official ‘We Will Survive 2020’ tee shirt or donate online. Stay Well and Safe!
Thank you to our sponsors: Arizona Myeloma Network, Diamondbacks, Coyotes, Los Sombreros, BHHS Legacy, Blondie Wolfe, Dr. Z’s Racing, Medicare Access Network of Arizona, Navajo Nation, PhRMA, Azbio, Hornaday Development, Life Around The Lakes Magazine, aztv, The Myeloma Support Group of Phoenix, The Joint Chiropractic at Arrowhead Ranch
You can still purchase our Collectible ‘We Will Survive™2020 tee shirtb. Every $ counts!
Special thanks to longtime supporter, BHHS Legacy Foundation, for their generous grant for Phase 1 of our new Virtual Cancer Caregivers Educational Programs.
And, It is not too late or too early to make your own 2021 ‘tax-deductible donation under the extended CARE Act.
This guide shares Barbara’s blogs that were published by AARP Colorado from June 2018 to January 2020. These blogs describe actual patient stories and shares tips for caregivers. Also included are a variety of resources for the cancer caregiver.
It is our desire that the items shared within this guide will assist caregivers in discovering strengths within themselves they may not have known they possess, so that they can better meet their caregiving challenges.
We are giving away this guide in PDF format,
donations are welcomed.
The Winter/Spring 2021 CC Newsletter.
This Spring, 2021, we have New Hope. The vaccines are now available and proving to be effective and safe. They will help us get back to jobs, school, and spending time with our family and friends. Jack and I have had the vaccine and encourage cancer patients and families to consider it and check with their doctor if they have any questions or concerns.
We have a lot to Celebrate and many people to Thank: cancer researchers, doctors and nurses and other 1st Responders who have been with us and cared for us throughout this crisis.
Dear Friends,
While we are ‘cooped up’ here on Earth, I wanted to share these photos of the astronauts returning home from Space.
As Jack and I sat and watched this amazing event, our Spirits were lifted and our Hope for Health and Peace were lifted too!
TGen and HonorHealth Initiate COVID-19
Combination Therapy of Atovaquone and Azithromycin
Established combination seen as safer option for coronavirus therapy; will add data to TGen COVID Immunity Study and virus sequencing efforts
Thank you Tgen and Honor Health for your collaboration on behalf of new treatment for COPID19 which we read about in the AzBio News this week. We are so proud to know you and to be able to share this exciting news with the thousands of cancer patients and caregivers in our AzMN network. You bring great Hope to so many and help us remain strong in these scary and lonely times.
Covid-19 Information / Links
If you have questions, please contact your local health department listed at:
Thank you Coyotes From Arizona Myeloma Network…
You are Winners!
February 4th, 2020
Your Silent Auction Prize of the President’s Box for 18 was greatly appreciated and allows us to continue our free cancer patient and caregivers programs for Arizona!
Barbara and Jack Kavanagh, Co-Founders
Living with Cancer, a CareGivers Journey©
My writing journey is well underway! The goal of this project is to provide insights and resources that will lead the reader to be a more educated cancer patient and a more effective cancer caregiver.
It has been a 28-year journey that has taken us to 5 countries and 3 U.S. states. Over the years, my husband and I have had to find oncologists wherever we lived. We have been fortunate that they were willing to communicate and collaborate with top myeloma specialists at the Mayo Clinic and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. And, now many years later, they have generously offered to contribute their own knowledge and experience to my book, ‘Living with Cancer, a CareGivers Journey ®.
It is not just the cancer patient who is affected by a cancer diagnosis; it affects the entire family, their circle of friends, those in the patient’s workplace, and beyond. The book will include information and resources for the cancer caregiver and patient families, who are such an important part of the cancer team and who are searching for help and hope!
This book will be an invaluable tool for those who have cancer, work with cancer patients, research cancer, educate about cancer and work to bring about improvements in a cancer patient’s quality of life. We are inviting you, the cancer patient and the caregiver, to share your own story and also take the caregiver survey so that we can educate others who are on this journey as well.
Best Regards,
Barbara
Many thanks to our sponsors!
Barbara Kavanagh, Founder and CEO, AzMN®, appearing on Az Daily Mix AZTV7 with Brad Perry.
www.aztv.com
THANK YOU Kurt and Los Sombreros for all the support you have shown to us for many years! We invite everyone to please support your local small businesses.
www.lossombreros.com
It was an exciting evening for Barbara Kavanagh and AzMN’s Cancer Caregivers Programs. She accepted the Congressional Recognition Award for her dedication to all cancer patients and caregiver services.
It was awarded in a small, outdoor ceremony by Staff member,Monica Yelin, on behalf of Congresswoman Debbie Lesko. A great way for us to begin our Virtual Walk/Race Family Fun Event. Register Now and the Event concludes on December 21st.
Save the Date in 2020
Nov 14th – 21st
Governor’s Proclamation
AZ Cancer Caregivers Awareness Week!
Nov 21st – Dec 21st
1st Annual Virtual Cancer Caregivers Awareness Race
Spring 2021 Book Release
“Living with Cancer, a
CareGivers Journey©”
A guide for cancer patients, families and Healthcare professionals
By Barbara Kavanagh, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., cancer caregiver with her husband, Jack Kavanagh, a 30 year cancer survivor.
We are proud and grateful for the amazing guest authors, including leading cancer researchers and
specialists, information on early diagnosis, new treatments, 2nd opinions, and other important topics.
The Honor Wall
The Honor Wall gives people the opportunity to donate $150 in honor of a loved one or just ‘donate’ even if you do not wish to write a tribute. $25, $50, $100, or any amount.
Make Donation/Tribute
A Successful Year and
End of a Decade: 2019
December 17th
‘Strike Out Cancer’, was held December 17th at the Millennium Hotel. AzMN’s Benefit to Honor and Celebrate Cancer Patients and Caregivers.
Special thanks to Derrick Hall and the Diamondbacks foundation for sponsoring this event.
December 7th, 9am-12:30pm
AzMN and Cancer Support Community sponsored a Free Cancer Caregivers Seminar: ’Coping with Cancer for the Holidays’, a program for All Cancer Caregivers and Families.
November 18th, 7:30am
AzTV appearance on Monday Morning, November 18th.
View Episode
November 16-23rd
The 1st Governor’s Proclamation for Cancer Caregivers Awareness Week in the U.S.
’Be Thankful for your Cancer CareGiver’. November is Caregivers month and November 16th- 23rd is Cancer CareGivers Awareness Week!
Help support AzMN's free cancer education and advocacy programs through Amazon Smile
When you make purchases online please use our link www.smile.amazon.com and Amazon gives back to AzMN to help us continue our free cancer caregivers’ programs.
You can also use this free Chrome browser extension Smilematic that will automatically turn your everyday Amazon purchases into AmazonSmile donations. Get it here.