Sunday, June 16, 2013

Extraordinary Offering v.5

Extraordinary Offerin

The inspiring stories of volunteerism with the Foundation For Molecular Medicine





This is a series of stories from the volunteers at the Foundation For Molecular Medicine, who offer the extraordinary gift of themselves to the mission of the organization. The stories reflect the diversity of personal experiences each volunteer brings to the organization along with their motivation and desire to improve the lives of others. 

Volunteerism truly is the Extraordinary Offering.



My Story - My Cousin Johnny
By: Jacqueline Ruchti



As I grew up, my role model was my cousin Johnny. Two years older than me, Johnny was full of life and always had a plan, whether it related to his next prank or a personal goal. I would follow him to the end of the world, if he asked. Little did I know that the end of the world, his world, was approaching quickly.
When my family received a call one night that Johnny had cancer, the floor collapsed from beneath me. I was only seven, and my previously mischievous lifestyle seemed to be slipping away from me. All I wanted was for Johnny’s days to be prolonged and every moment of his life to be the best. So, when my mom switched from full-time to part-time work in order to help care for him, I didn’t care that I would no longer have the latest toys or gadgets that became available. My mom’s dedication to family inspired me. I guess you might say she became my role model too.
My mother taught me what it means to volunteer. Not only was she my Girl Scout leader and a room mother at school, but she also gave up a career she loved to home school Johnny when cancer kept him from attending school. She taught me how to be humble and giving. Thus, I gave up the majority of materialistic wants to see his smile light up the room.  I remember when all of my friends were getting a Gameboy color, and we could afford one.  My mom even talked Toys-R-Us into releasing it a day before the release date due to the serious condition Johnny was in.  
For nearly three years, Johnny endured numerous trials and tribulations. He made many agonizing trips to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and one long, disappointing trip to Mayo Clinic. He was tested and prodded and given way too many life-sucking chemotherapy treatments. The treatments seemed only to weaken him, and yet, somehow, his indomitable spirit remained untouched. Then, in the third year, the doctors reported that there was nothing left they could do. The cancer had advanced to stage four, and Johnny only had a while longer to live.
Now his willpower was crushed, and for the first time, I saw the strongest person I knew break down. He was my backbone; when he lost his strength, I lost mine as well. And on June 23, Johnny died. That day I lost my cousin, my role model, and my best friend. However, I didn’t lose Johnny completely. Alive and dead, he continues to be my inspiration.
Both Johnny and my mom have molded me into who I am today. Johnny inspired me to pursue my dreams and fight to make them a reality. I aim to match his determination and succeed; he had been given six months to a year to live and lived for nearly three full years.  And because of my mom, I have found a new passion helping others. At my high school, I am an active member in National Honor Society, a Student Council Officer, and the Key Club President. In all three, community service is required, and I choose to embrace every moment of it. The Special Olympics functions I volunteer in are the most rewarding! If there’s one thing I’ve witnessed, it’s that one must live life to the fullest. And today, I am an eighteen-year-old girl who is trying to do just that as I volunteer organizations, such as the Foundation For Molecular Medicine and Kiwanis, as they fight for the cure. 

My cousin - Johnny

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Extraordinary Offering v. 4

Extraordinary Offerin

The inspiring stories of volunteerism with the Foundation For Molecular Medicine





This is a series of stories from the volunteers at the Foundation For Molecular Medicine, who offer the extraordinary gift of themselves to the mission of the organization. The stories reflect the diversity of personal experiences each volunteer brings to the organization along with their motivation and desire to improve the lives of others. 

Volunteerism truly is the Extraordinary Offering.



My Story – For Family and Friends
By: Tom Szczepanski


The opportunity to simply give of one’s time to charitable organizations, by walking or donating financially is so very important and can’t be overlooked.  Having lost two family members and a cousin to cancer it was a very easy decision to give my time to volunteer for the Foundation For Molecular Medicine.  It was with my sister in law Carol’s passing that I felt I really had to step up to the plate and do something more.

It is particularly tough to watch people suffer, especially the ones you love.  Carol was a true fighter against breast cancer, fighting against this dreaded disease for 20+ years.  That whole time, I never understood why technology wasn’t able to help keep her cancer in check. While Carol struggled and fought to beat cancer, she was also very caring and giving, even during the rough times. It is in the memory of her spirit of giving to others, to fight and beat cancer that the Foundation For Molecular Medicine exists.

My Dad is one of the reasons I chose to become a volunteer for the Foundation For Molecular Medicine. He gave so much of his time to charitable organizations in the community, he firmly believed in giving back to the community. He lost his life in his early 80’s to cancer and while it is always tough to lose a parent, he has been an inspiration to me to give my time and energy by volunteering with charitable.

The Foundation For Molecular Medicine seeks to educate individuals on various issues from healthy living to the nontoxic diagnostics and therapies that are available. There are others that have lost their lives to cancer like Carol and my Dad, and to those who are currently fighting the disease we at the Foundation For Molecular Medicine are here to help make a difference.

The mission of the Foundation For Molecular Medicine is to support education on early detection of metastatic cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles. Please check our web site at www.FFMM.org for further information.

Carol Szczepanski - my sister in law

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Extraordinary Offering v.3

Extraordinary Offerin

The inspiring stories of volunteerism with the Foundation For Molecular Medicine





This is a series of stories from the volunteers at the Foundation For Molecular Medicine, who offer the extraordinary gift of themselves to the mission of the organization. The stories reflect the diversity of personal experiences each volunteer brings to the organization along with their motivation and desire to improve the lives of others. 

Volunteerism truly is the Extraordinary Offering.



My Story – National Cancer Survivor Day
By: Candace Shaw


Today is National Cancer Survivor Day, a day to celebrate friends and family that have struggled and became a survivor of Cancer. My mom is one of the survivors. This post is dedicated to my mom and her continued fight to live a healthy cancer-free life.

So often, one perceives volunteers to be completely selfless individuals who give of themselves to a cause in an effort to change the world for the better. Well, that really isn’t me: I am completely selfish with my volunteerism for the Foundation For Molecular Medicine. You see, about 5 years ago, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy followed by an unimaginable quantity of chemo-cocktails to ‘heal’ her. I was introduced to the work of the Foundation at the beginning of this year, the only thing I could think about was that if I help with this organization, it will keep my Mom here with me longer, keep her a breast cancer survivor for longer. Selfish, I know.

When someone you love has cancer everything changes. The focus moves quickly from complete and utter dismay to how to fight and beat this cancer into total remission.  I learned very quickly from my Mom’s cancer experience that the process of cancer treatment has not improved much over the past 20 years. Doctors don’t really have any new or improved answers. Instead, they have a somewhat general idea about what treatments might work based on their personal understanding of what has worked in the past for others inflicted: not very scientific to say the least. After cutting the cancer out, a series of immeasurable and unquantifiable processes occur. The chemo and radiation treatments become a mostly subjective patchwork of a small pool of Doctors perceptions of what could – hopefully – work. That method doesn’t really work for me since I am not someone that particularly enjoys banking on ‘hope’ when it comes to my family’s health.

Moreover, this cancer problem doesn’t begin and end with my Mom. Cancer seems drawn to my family like little flecks of metal to a giant magnet. Breast Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Colon Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Leukemia…the list goes on and on. The youngest family member that had cancer was 7 years old. My cousin’s daughter was diagnosed about a year after my Mom. Talk about one blow right after another!

 So today, on National Cancer Survivor Day, I am proud to say that my Mom is a survivor of Breast Cancer. As selfish as it is, I volunteer at the Foundation in an effort to keep her a survivor for a long time. The Foundation’s mission is to support education on early detection of metastatic cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles. The Foundation does that by supporting students and universities that offer studies in advanced biotechnologies, molecular diagnostics and molecular treatment. As an FFMM volunteer I have an opportunity to bring my talent and skills to an organization that can make a difference in my Mom’s life and in my family’s life. Selfish in so many ways, but that is why I volunteer for the Foundation For Molecular Medicine.

Sue Shaw - 2 years later