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
Events in 2021
Spring Events TBA
March 11th
Virtual Family Caregiver Day
March 2nd
Barbara and Jutta Ulrich from the Arizona Caregiver Coalition appearing on the Morning Mix, aztv
Jan 28th
AZ Myeloma Network was on aztv talking about why it is important for cancer patients to get a COVID vaccine!
Fall 2021 Book Release
“Living with Cancer, a
CareGivers Journey©”
A book for cancer patients, cancer caregivers, 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, cancer patients/caregiver stories, and other important topics.
Events in 2020
Nov 14th – 21st
Governor’s Proclamation
AZ Cancer Caregivers Awareness Week!
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
Congresswoman Lesko Weekly Update
Monica from our office presented a Congressional Recognition to Barbara Baroff Kavanagh, the founder and CEO of the Arizona Myeloma Network, a non-profit that helps patients with Myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Barbara Baroff Kavanagh founded the organization in 2004 to educate and raise awareness for the disease and advocate for Myeloma patients and all cancer caregivers. Her husband is now a 30 year myeloma survivor.
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.
Thank you to the Governor for recognizing the importance of Cancer Caregivers who are also ‘First Responders’ during the Covid crisis.
The State of Arizona declares
“Cancer Caregivers Awareness Week”
November 14th-21st, 2020
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
