Crowd gathers for the Race to End Women’s Cancer

Although the Foundation for Women’s Cancer (FWC) is headquartered in Chicago, Washington D.C. always seems like a fitting place for the FWC to host their annual national event, The National Race to End Women’s Cancer and their Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Movement Weekend.  After all, the FWC is all about making this event part of a national movement that raises awareness and funding to fight women’s cancer, and what better place to host the heart of this national movement then at the nation’s capital.

Here at WORD, we have been fortunate enough to attend every National Race to End Women’s Cancer since its inception.  Truly, the event gets better and better every year.  Despite Hurricane Sandy slowing down the east coast just days earlier, the weather was perfect for the race and weekend festivities.  The event had a great turnout.

The Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Movement Weekend started on Friday, November 2nd, with a preview showing of a film by Spark Media, “No Evidence of Disease”.  The film is about the rock band N.E.D. which is made up of Gynecologic Oncologists from around the country.  The evening also included a sold-out performance by N.E.D. themselves.

At one of the Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Movement’s free seminars.

On Saturday, the FWC hosted all-day survivor courses on Ovarian, Uterine and Cervical cancer for survivors and their caregivers.  These courses were all offered free of charge and taught by medical and scientific experts in the field.  But the main event of the weekend, of course, is the National Race to End Women’s Cancer on Sunday at Freedom Plaza.

WORD was thrilled to be able to connect with key people involved in this weekend event, including survivors, caregivers, advocates, and even the medical and scientific experts who treat these diseases.  In the summary video below, we briefly interview some of these people and give an overview of the Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Movement Weekend as a whole.

To watch other videos from this event (including the entire interviews from those featured in the interview above), please visit the YouTube playlist of all the videos from that weekend at this link, or view the clips in the embedded player below.  A special thanks to all of the people who spoke with us at the event including:  Michelle L. Whitlock (How I lost My Uterus and Found My Voice), Tamika Felder (Tamika and Friends), Dr. Rusty Robinson (N.E.D. the band), Dr. Carol Brown, Dr, Ginger Gardner, and everyone else who took the time to interview with us.  And as always, thanks to Nate Manahan for his excellent on-camera interviewing work.

Finally, be sure to learn about next year’s Gynecologic Cancer Weekend and register for next year’s Race to End Women’s Cancer at the event website at EndWomensCancer.org

Until next time,

- Chad Braham

Director of Media Production

WORDonCancer.org

Christina & Gloria

October has been another busy month for us as we’ve continued on with the post production of our documentary film, “No More“.  To keep you up-to-date on the process of producing this documentary, we thought we would include another “sneak peak” at one of the clips from the film.

The clip below offers first-hand testimonials, from some women that live in the Peten region of Guatemala and attended one of the clinic stops on the Cervical Cancer Prevention Campaign.  Their stories offer a brief insight into many of the obstacles women face in Guatemala when it comes to getting a simple Pap test.

Our friends at Sew HOPE have been posting on their blog with stories from their current trip.  In their blog post from Friday (Oct 27), they describe an encounter with yet another case of advanced cervical cancer in a young woman who visits their clinic.  The story brings to the surface how the cervical cancer prevention landscape for women in places like Peten are literally life-and-death… and so much more needs to be done.  Be sure to follow their blog and all the amazing work Sew HOPE does.

On a different note WORD is just about to leave for the Foundation for Women’s Cancer’s National Race to End Women’s Cancer.  Be sure to check our Facebook page for upcoming videos and coverage from that event in the next few days.

Until Next time,

Chad Braham

Director of Media Production

WORDonCancer.org

This first video is from the local Ovarian Cancer Run/Walk here in Indianapolis, hosted by Ovar’coming Together.  Ovar’coming Together always does a fantastic job with this Run/Walk, and each year it gets better and better.  This was our third year attending this event, and each year we’ve always been curios about the large Hello Gorgeous RV parked along the street at the event.  Well, this year, we were able to meet one of the co-founders of Hello Gorgeous of HOPE Inc., and learn about their passion for providing complimentary, professional makeovers and cosmetic education to all women battling all cancers.

Our second video is another promo edit of our documentary short film, “No More“.  This video features Ismael Martinez (Sew HOPE project Director) and Anne Ruch (Sew HOPE Co-Founder) as they explain a lot of the obstacles to carrying out Sew HOPE‘s cervical cancer prevention campaign in the Peten region of Guatemala.

Enjoy the fall weather,

Chad Braham

Director of Media Production

WORDonCancer.org

To paraphrase Lauren; the story of cervical cancer in Guatemala isn’t about paps and prevention programs, it’s the story of women dying from a preventable disease… and this creates a loss of sisters daughter and mothers that ruin lives.  Or, to put it more concisely, this isn’t the story about a disease, but about the lives affected by a disease that should be completely preventable.

In the video embedded below we meet Lauren.  Lauren Wondolowski is a 4th year med student at the University of Toledo and a frequent volunteer on Sew HOPE’s medical mission trips.  In this promo edit from the documentary short film entitled, “No More”, Lauren briefly mentions meeting Flori and how Flori’s story inspired the Sew HOPE team to design their campaign to administer 1000 paps during one month in the Peten region of Guatemala.

Until next time,

Chad Braham

Director of Media Production

WORDonCancer.org

Puja Venket is a 4th year med student at the University of Toledo and a frequent volunteer on Dr. Anne Ruch’s Sew HOPE medical missions trips.  On this medical mission’s trip, Sew HOPE is undertaking their most ambitious goal to date; administer over 1000 paps and gather data that will help the team design a sustainable Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, that will save lives in Peten, Guatemala.

To learn more about the film, “No More”, and to keep up-to-date on it’s progress, be sure to subscribe to the film’s blog at NoMoreTheMovie.com

To view other promo edits for this film, visit the film’s YouTube playlist.

Chad Braham

Director of Media Production

WORDonCancer.org

As we move into the heat of the summer, we thought we would check-in with a videos that show some of what WORD has been up to this past month.

For starters, we’ve been continuing our post-production work on our documentary short film, “No More”.  And released another promo edit entitled, “Meet Randy”.

Remember to subscribe to our film’s blog at NoMoreTheMovie.com, so you can be informed of all the news and releases from the project, as soon as they become available.

In addition, WORD also attended the ASCO 2012 Annual Meeting this year in Chicago.  Our hope is to include audio and video interviews from key gynecologic cancer presenters from this event, in the next couple of weeks.  Be sure to follow this blog and we will update you as those materials become available.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!

Chad Braham

Director of Media Production

WORDonCancer.org

One such story in “No More” is that of Chett Smith, a cytotechnologist from Promedica in Toledo, OH.  Chetti’s role on the volunteer cervical cancer prevention team in Guatemala is that of an on-site cytotech.  Chetti’s presence on the team, allows the patients being screened for cervical cancer to have their results from their pap tests the same day as their visit – thus bypassing many of the barriers to patient follow-up in the rural and low-infrastructure area of Peten.  We thought we would share a video snippet here that introduces you to Chetti, and sort of give you a glimpse of the film as it progresses along.

The unique workflow of this film has also enabled WORD to partner with several key software providers in the film industry, which, in turn has opened up other opportunities to promote the film.  Two recent examples of this is WORD being asked to be a guest blogger at Inqscribe.com and a partnership with the folks at ImagineProducts.com, to produce a video that promotes WORD’s use of their ShotPut Pro software on-location in Guatemala.  Whether or not you find the technical aspects that these software offerings interesting, it still may interest you to catch a glimpse into some of the work WORD is doing to create the short film.

Finally, If you haven’t been keeping up with the progression of the film, be sure to follow the film’s blog, and learn all about the film at NoMoreTheMovie.com.

Check back soon,

Chad Braham

Director of Media Production

WORDonCancer.org

This annual event is a time when those who work with Gynecologic Cancer, meet to discuss and teach about cutting edge research and treatments for these cancers.  This year, the event was held in Austin Texas at the Austin Convention center and the event again was full of the best Abstracts, informative presentations, helpful Q&A sessions and open floor debates.  The event also includes training seminars that allow the doctors to stay updated and trained on the latest and greatest treatments and care for gynecologic cancer patients.  In fact, Gynecologic Oncologists from all over the world attend this meeting to train and work together as the leading professionals in the field, with the goal of further equipping everyone involved with better treatment practices and ultimately a cure.

WORD attends this conference every year, so we can bring the highlights and insight of from these experts to you.  And this year, WORD honored to be allowed access to many of the top presenters of this event, and talk with them about their work, and how it can benefit those who are fighting this disease as a survivor, or as a friend and family member who cares for them.

Included below is sort of a “Teaser” video to the interviews and presentations we filmed while at the meeting.  But you can also view all 19 of our videos from the event at the YouTube Playlist linked here.

Finally, we would like to extend our appreciation to all of the doctors who took time out of their busy schedule that week to talk with us, and a huge “Thank You” to organizations like the SGO, who strive to bring together the best science to fight for women’s lives, and inevitably a cure.

As always, please feel free to embed and link these videos in any way you wish (the more people that see them the better)

Until next time,

Chad Braham
Director of Media
WORDonCancer.org

No More women should die of cervical cancer.

To this end, WORD has teamed up with Sew Hope to produce a documentary short film about a group of U.S. med students, and volunteers who are implementing a cervical cancer prevention program in the Peten region of Guatemala, in the hopes of finding methods that can be used to save lives around the world.  The title of this film is, “No More: A Story of Hope in Eradicating Cervical Cancer”

Sew Hope is a great non-profit in Toledo, OH that is dedicated to helping the families of the Peten region in Guatemala.  This month, Sew Hope undertook one of it’s most ambitious goals to date.  For the entire month of February, Sew Hope sent a team of volunteers to man a mobile cervical cancer screening unit that made it’s way around the remote Peten region with the goal of administering over 1000 pap test.  The team of volunteers consisted of a group of US med students, an OB/GYN, and a cytotechnologist. One of the things that made this effort so unique, was having a cytotechnologist  on hand to give results of the pap tests to these women, the same day as their exam.  If the results of the test show that treatment is necessary, the patient can be treated within the mobile clinic that same day as well.  In such a remote area, with limited infrastructure, this is a key to the programs success.   Sew Hope’s idea behind the 1000 paps campaign is to create plan to eradicate cervical cancer in this area, and beyond.

During the 1000 paps campaign, WORD sent a small film crew (Chad Braham and Nate Manahan) to travel together with this volunteer team and document their stories, and the stories of the women and families effected by this deadly, yet preventable disease.  The films objective is to raise awareness about cervical cancer, and how important the prevention of this disease is.  We want the audience to be empowered to take charge of their own health, and to be motivated to make a difference; in their own community, and in a place like Peten.

To learn more about the film, “No More” and to follow updates about the film as it produced, go to: NoMoreTheMovie.com

Finally, we need your help telling the important message of this documentary and hope that you’ll consider assisting us by:

• Linking the “No More” trailer included above to your Facebook page, Twitter Stream, or even just emailing the link to someone you think may be interested in the project.
• Consider donating to the project at our site.
• Do you have a group or organization who might be interested in sponsoring the film, in exchange for a mention in the end-credit of the film and on the film’s website?  Contact us and let us know.

“No More” aims to show that cervical cancer can and should be completely eradicated from all nations… Cervical cancer should be No More.

This past year, WORD attended the  Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer ™ in Orlando Florida.  While at the conference, we filmed interviews with leading Gynecologic Oncologists and asked them to tell us some advice they would pass onto a woman who has just been diagnosed with a Gynecologic Cancer.  After the weekend was over, we found that there were 5 tips that consistently came up from every Gynecologic Oncologist we talked to.

Included below is a video playlist that includes the five videos of the “5 Tips if Diagnosed with a Gynecologic Cancer”.  We want to again thank the doctors who volunteered their time to be interviewed for these videos and the other videos used in our “WORDs of Wisdom” resource.

In summary, for text of the tips presented, follow the more link:

Tip 1:  Get to a Gynecologic Oncologist (Gyn Onc)
A Gynecologic Oncologist is a specialist that is trained to take care of gynecologic cancers. Studies show, that in the care of a Gynecologic Oncologist, outcomes for Gynecologic Cancer patients are better If you are diagnosed, please, see a gynecologic oncologist. If you need help finding one near you, click here.

Tip 2: Research & Bring a List of Questions 
The more you know about your disease before your Gyn Onc visit, the better. To make your appointment more productive, learn what you can about your disease before hand, and come with a list of questions written down. If you don’t write down the questions, there is a good chance you may not remember all of them. Questions can be created after visiting the following reputable online resources: Cancer.gov, Cancer.org,FoundationForWomensCancer.org, and WORDonCancer.org (by choosing one of the three common cancer sections: Ovarian Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Uterine Cancer)
Here is a sample list of questions to get you started:

A) What is my exact diagnosis?
B) What therapeutic (treatment) options do I have?
i) Surgery options (is minimally invasive surgery an option?)
ii) Chemo therapy
iii) Radiation therapy
iv) Hormone therapy
v) Biological Treatment
C) What are the side effects of these treatments?
D) What should the follow-up to these treatments be?
E) What could be signs of a recurrence?
F) Questions to ask your surgeon…
i) How many of these procedures do you do on a monthly or yearly basis?
ii) What kind of complications have you had or what complications could be expected?

Tip 3: Bring a “Helper” with You to Your Gyn Onc Visit
A visit with a gynecologic oncologist can often be overwhelming, because a disease like cancer is so complicated.  But, bringing someone else to the appointment, as a support, can often help process the information discussed. When attending an appointment with a gynecologic oncologist, be sure to bring a, “Helper” (friend or family member).

Tip 4:  Get a Second Opinion From Another Gyn Onc
If diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer, get a second opinion. “Shopping around” and consulting with other qualified experts will only you understand more of what you are dealing with and it will help ensure that you are with the doctor that is right for you. Again, you can find another gynecologic oncologist by clicking here.

Tip 5:  Talk with Your Gyn Onc about Joining a Clinical Trial.
Clinical trials offer the newest treatments, and studies have shown that participation in these trials, usually leads to better outcomes for gynecologic cancer patients.  To search a list of clinical trials you may qualify for, go to: ClinicalTrials.gov and CancerTrialsHelp.org

To learn more about gynecologic cancer diagnosis, consult one of our three cancer sections at WORDonCancer.org

What do you think about these 5 Tips?  What other tips would you add from your experience?  Please leave your comments and input below.