5 Years Later

Until now, I've never shared the image below with anyone except Stephanie. Understandably, she didn't want to take the picture, but I said I wanted a picture that I could look at throughout my life when times were bad, the going got rough, or I was just having a bad day and that this image would put things in perspective for me.


Things are not bad at all now. I mean, ~May 30th we'll have a wonderful baby boy! I looked at this picture because, as chance would have it, my last day of chemotherapy -- probably the hardest day I can remember -- was January 9, 2004. I almost didn't go, but knew I had to, and the eight hour session seemed to take twelve. Just five years later, January 9, 2009, I saw my son on his ultrasound.

There's always a light at the end of the tunnel, and thank God for that.

Thanks for supporting SU2C

Friday night's show was great and I look forward to hearing how much money was raised Friday night alone. All things considered, didn't Patrick Swayze and Christina Applegate look good? I'd like to thank the friends and family that donated to SU2C. This list are the people I know donated and deserve a special thanks. If I missed your name, let me know!

A in-no-particular-order very, very special thanks to...

• Stephanie!
  
• Rick & Sandra Bradley
• Jim & Linda Hutzel
• Jesse & Mattie Bradley
  
• Michael & Sarah Bradley
• Mr. & Mrs. Miller
  
• Beth & Tim Lemons
• Greg & Laura Hutzel
• Jon & Jennifer Hutzel
• Mike Hutzel & Jennifer Robinson
• Adam & Christina Pawlowski
• Rusty Boozer
• Gabe Keller
• Shawn Wall
• Fred & Jennifer Rice
• Tammy Johnson
  

StandUp2Cancer

Readers,

Many, if not all of you, know of my battle with cancer from 2003-2004. Many of you also have family, friends and coworkers that have been affected by cancer -- and some of you, like me, are also a Survivor. I'm donating and feel that Survivors owe it to themselves to fight back beyond the physical toll by helping make this the beginning of the end of cancer so others never have to go through the same thing we have.

For those of you that haven't heard, the StandUp2Cancer organization is having a ground-breaking telethon on September 5th @ 8PM Eastern / 7PM Central. What channel? Oh, ABC, NBC, and CBS! (See the awesome advertisement for it here.) All three major networks have donated commercial-free time to SU2C for this incredible opportunity. This initiative is to raise more money then ever before to be distributed directly to cures for cancer. Also, calls will be answered by celebrities: Casey Affleck, Dana Delany, America Ferrera, Danica Patrick, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Fran Drescher, Sally Field, Christina Ricci, Goran Visnjic, Christina Applegate [recently diagnosed], Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Charlie Gibson, Robin Roberts, Forest Whitaker, Lance Armstrong, Kirsten Dunst, Neil Patrick Harris, Homer & Marge Simpson, Brian Wiliams, Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Edwards, Salma Hayek, David Cook, Elle Fanning, Scarlett Johansson, Meryl Streep, Katie Couric, Jon Favreau, Masi Oka, and Hilary Swank are all confirmed -- with more signing up.

I realize that I have asked several of you before for your support, but it's needed now more than ever. You can be a part of history -- and affect the lives of millions. How? Donate. $1, $20, $50, $100, $More -- anything you can do! You can donate in more ways than ever.

• You can donate by joining my SU2C team at http://www.standup2cancer.org/mysu2c/teams/join/1010 to show me you're standing up with me. (If the link doesn't work, visit www.standup2cancer.org, and search for the "Jason Bradley" team.)
  
• Donate by a one-time charge of $5 to your cell phone bill! Simply text the word STAND to 40202. (You can do this up to 5 times per billing cycle.)
  
• Call 1-888-90-STAND and donate by phone.
• Participate the night of the telethon and call in to donate.
• Donate by mail (if you need to write a check): STAND UP TO CANCER, FILE 1224, 1801 W OLYMPIC BLVD, PASADENA CA 91199-1224

If you donate through any means other then joining my team, please email me to let me know so that I may personally thank you.

-Jason

LiveSTRONG Day, May 13, 2008

Friends and Family,

TOMORROW, May 13th, 2008, is LiveSTRONG Day where you can show your support of cancer survivors everywhere by wearing YELLOW.

I'm sorry for the short notice, but would really appreciate it if you show your support to me and all of the Survivors out there! In fact, if you wear yellow tomorrow, snap a pic of yourself wearing yellow (or get someone to) and send me the pic! I'm collecting them this year! Send it by email, cell phone, Facebook, or pigeon!

Thanks!!!

3.5 Years

The news is in. Cancer Free for 3.5 years. Amen.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is breast cancer awareness month. Find out what you can do to help at www.cancer.org today.

Livestrong Day 2007

This May 16th is Livestrong Day 2007. Wear yellow. Spread the word. Write your representatives in Congress. Demand government support.

• There are more than 10 million individuals in the United States today who are living with cancer.
• Nearly 40 percent of people living with cancer are under the age of 65.
• 64 percent of adults diagnosed with cancer today will be living 5 years from now.
• In 1960, 4 percent of children with cancer survived more than 5 years.
• Nearly 80 percent of children (age 0 through 14) diagnosed with cancer today will be living five years from now.
• The five year survivorship rates for young adults (age 20 through 40) with cancer has remained unchanged for the past 30 years.
• Three out of every four American families will have at least one family member diagnosed with cancer.
• 24 percent of adults with cancer are parents who have a child 18 years or younger.
• One of every four deaths in the United States is from cancer.
• In 2005, 570,280 Americans will die of cancer - more than 1,500 people a day. That's 9/11 every two days.
• The annual cost of cancer in the United States is $189,800,000,000 in direct and indirect costs.
• Government spending on cancer research was lowered for the first time in 30 years.

Join the army

9-11 happens again every two days. That's right -- one person dies every minute of every day due to cancer.

I'm not asking you to donate your money [though I won't stop you either]. What I do ask is that you watch a two-minute video. If you feel the same as I do, as Lance does, and as many, many others, then join the army. Join an army of people that believe that it's not always about which politician says they will cut taxes or find alternative fuels -- it's about saving lives from a horrible disease.

In 2001, in President Bush's pseudo-State of the Union address, he said that Congressman Joe Moakley was battling cancer and that he could "think of no more appropriate tribute...than to have Congress finish the job of doubling the budget for the National Institutes of Health." This year, funding for cancer research was lowered by the government for the first time in 35 years.

Please, watch the video. Join the army.

http://www.livestrong.org/jointhearmy