Stacey Jolley facilitates a wonderful support group at Mather Hospital and allowed Debbie and I to join last night and demonstrate some basic exercises with the stability ball and bands. Strength for Life has been actively reaching out to this support group and it finally happened - then lo and behold I learned that Stacey is good friends with my cousins.
You can tell in a very short time how welcoming this group was...it is always great for us to experience this and be able to share with others who might be searching.
For information you can call Stacey at 631-689-1635
"Life is like a game of tennis. You have no choice over how the ball comes to you but it's how you hit it back that counts." Margaret Moth
Contact: Christine Dingfelder
ReplyDeletecdingfelder@nybloodcenter.org
718.797.7814 Office / 917.763.1648 Cell
Review copies available on request
Can a Legal Thriller Do More Than Thrill?
‘Novel’ Reality Program Aims to Boost Breast Cancer,
Leukemia Awareness
…and Recruit New Bone Marrow Donors
April 14, 2011 / New York, NY. The arsenal of tools to educate the public about the constant need for bone marrow donors – websites, social media, patient testimonials, fundraising events, television public service announcements – is welcoming a new partner: a reality-based legal thriller in which one of the major characters gets sick.
“The Matriarchs,” a novel now available in Amazon® print and Kindle® e-book formats at www.Matriarchsthebook.com, is based on the personal experience of a New York Blood Center (NYBC) employee whose sister-in-law battled breast cancer, then leukemia, and finally received a bone marrow transplant. “My colleagues work here because of their personal desire to help people in need,” said NYBC Communications Director Jim “J.D.” Fox. “Me, too.”
NYBC provides blood, bone marrow and cord blood stem cells, and other cellular therapy products and services to the 20 million people of Greater New York; and extends its life-saving mission via active partnerships with other organizations throughout the United States and around the world.
“Jim is donating all profits from the sale of his book’s first edition to our bone marrow recruitment efforts here at New York Blood Center,” said program director Melinda Caltabiano. “We’re always working to educate the public about the constant need for new donors, and we welcome this ‘novel’ way to spread the word. Also, he wrote a really good book. It’s fun to read.”
Prior to his experience at NYBC, Fox worked in a similar capacity at New York’s top law school (Columbia Law School) as well as New York’s largest law firm (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom). When his sister-in-law, who lives in a suburb of Milwaukee, became the recipient of countless transfusions to combat her aggressive breast cancer and leukemia, Fox saw an opportunity to combine his professional history and writing skills to raise awareness and money.
“I’ve read memoirs written by authors who’ve gone through what we went through,” he said, “But not a reality-based thriller, which could potentially reach a lot more people. I’m well-versed in the world of elite law schools and top corporate law firms, and I learned about the often heartbreaking search for donors. So, I put it all together, and wrote a book.”
During the most difficult days of her struggle with breast cancer and leukemia, Theresa Fox said that she “wanted to live to see my first grandchild.” After a successful bone marrow transplant at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, she became a proud grandmother … twice. Theresa has been leukemia-free for two years, and is now back to teaching her middle school special education classes.
“My family’s story has a happy ending,” said Fox. “We’d like to see more stories turn out this way, and the only way to do that is by recruiting more donors.”
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