Hi everyone,
I received a flood of phone calls, e-mails and blog posts in response to my column last week about Danny “Baby Bus” Holt, a 23-year-old Danbury man fighting Stage 3 lung cancer.
On Friday, Danny’s family and friends will hold a fundraiser to help pay for his medical bills at Cousin Larry’s Cafe on Elm Street in Danbury. The benefit will run from 9 p.m. until closing and admission is $5, although more will be gladly accepted!
Although Danny never smoked and didn’t grow up in a house with secondhand smoke, the former Danbury High running back was still diagnosed with lung cancer in March.
For those readers who contacted me about contributing to Danny’s cause without going to the fundraiser, stay tuned. The family is working on establishing a local bank account specifically for donations.
Another reader, a woman from Newtown, called after the story ran to talk about her four-year battle with lung cancer as a non-smoker.
The woman pointed out that lung cancer is the most lethal form of cancer in the United States. And she’s right.
According to officials at the Centers for Disease Control, ”more people die from lung cancer than any other cancer.”
At the same time, funding for lung cancer research doesn’t even come close to the money spent on research for breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer.
According to the Lung Cancer Alliance, which looked at combined research figures from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Defense, breast cancer research received $1.1 billion in 2009, while prostate cancer research received $392 million, colon cancer research received $329 million and lung cancer research received $199 million.
The way the Newtown woman figures it, lung cancer research funding is so low because of the smoking stigma attached to the disease.
Consider: One in five women and one in 12 men diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked, according to the Lung Cancer Alliance.
“I shouldn’t have to justify my cancer,” the woman said. “Lung cancer is the No. 1 (cancer) killer out there. Isn’t that enough?”
Thanks for publicizing this event. It is a touching story.
One of the most common causes of lung cancer in the U.s. is radon in homes. Not sure if this may have been a factor in this particular case but we should be testing our homes in the Northeast for radon.
See http://www.epa.gov/radon/ for more details.
Comment by Dana Voelzke — May 18th, 2010 @ 5:36 pm
While I am not from the Danbury area, I was linked to your blog by a friend who lives in the area. I have lost my mother to lung cancer and have a dear friend, who never smoked, who is fighting this disease for her life right now. I hope you use your voice to advocate for those who have lung cancer and for those of us who may have it in our future. Please help get the word out through your newspaper that lung cancer is pervasive, especially among nonsmokers, the young, and especially women. Help remove the “smoker” stigma. Please take a look at this publication (you may have to copy and paste it to your browser) and help us have a voice. Thank you. http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/shadows/Out_of_the_Shadows_Report.pdf
Comment by Kathleen Lauretti — May 20th, 2010 @ 5:22 pm