Another year, full of hope and promises.

Won’t you help make our dream of a world free from colorectal cancer come true in 2012.

• Raise awareness that screening prevents colorectal cancer. Make sure you, your family, and your friends are screened for colorectal cancer as soon you reach 50 — earlier if you are at higher risk.
• Tell your friends living with colon or rectal cancer that they can call the Answer Line with their questions and concerns.
• Join us for supportive discussions in the Fight Colorectal Support Community and let others know they’ll find help there.
• Come to Call on Congress and make sure that programs and funding for colorectal cancer prevention and research are strong and growing.
• Finally, do one last, very important thing in 2011 – Make a gift to Fight Colorectal Cancer and ensure that our programs and research grants continue in 2012 and until we end suffering and death from colon and rectal cancer.

Have a great New Year — and get behind the cure.

On Wednesday night, Dr. Lindsey Poppe, the Pharmacy Clinical Manager for Oncology for the University of North Carolina hospital system talked about the alternatives and options that patients have when directly faced with the current chemo drug shortage.

You can watch a recording of the webinar on our website, along with all of our past patient webinars.

Webinar: What to Do When Your Doc is Out of 5-FU from Fight Colorectal Cancer on Vimeo.

In partnership with Fight Colorectal Cancer, California-based company Genomic Health has launched a free mobile app for their My Colon Cancer Coach program.

The Coach app allows patients and caregivers to walk through the My Colon Cancer Coach tool on their smartphones to access information about their personalized cancer treatment options. The app also includes note-taking and audio-recording functions, a list of questions to ask the doctor, a calendar, a glossary of terms and links to additional resources.

My Colon Cancer Coach is a unique, interactive website that helps patients better understand their diagnosis and treatment options. Based on answers that patients provide regarding their diagnosis, patients receive a guide which gives them information about treatment options specific to them. The goal of the Coach program is to empower patients with individualized information to facilitate more meaningful discussions between them and their doctors.

To access the free app, search “Cancer Coach” in the Android marketplace or iTunes store, or go to www.mycoloncancercoach.org.

A group of experts in cancer advocacy have identified Fight Colorectal Cancer as a top 10 high-impact nonprofit working in the field of cancer in the United States.

The report of experts was gathered by Philanthropedia (at GuideStar), a nonprofit organization working to help donors make smarter donations by connecting them with some of the highest impact nonprofits in a cause. They are different from other online rating sites or donation sites because they use experts to identify high-impact nonprofits.

Here is a sample of what the experts said about us:

“In the 6 years since Fight Colorectal Cancer was founded, they have had an impact in areas where nothing had been done before.”

“They are able to impact federal funding for colorectal cancer and have succeeded in seeing legislation introduced and funding increased.”

“This organization is far better than most at blending compassionate assistance to individual patients and family members with a sophisticated technical understanding of the disease, treatment options, and technically complex policy issues.”

“Fight Colorectal Cancer was responsible for securing millions of dollars for new research through their work on Capitol Hill. They were instrumental in getting colorectal cancer screenings included in health care reform. Currently they are leading the way in keeping patients informed about cancer drug shortages. They also directly fund research. In the six years of their existence, they have provided four research grants totaling $150,000.”

Read the rest of this entry »

At Fight Colorectal Cancer we use the word community a lot but we don’t use it lightly. We know that a solid community needs to have trust, credibility and the best of intentions at its core.

So when we invite members of our community to check out the community at the website Inspire.com, we do so because we believe you’ll find something useful and meaningful there.

Get your questions answered. Find a supportive group of new friends. Laugh with others who know exactly what you’re going through. Compare side effects and learn how others cope with them. Follow posts by Fight Colorectal Cancer’s Kate Murphy and stay up to date on the latest information about your specific health concerns.

Read the rest of this entry »