I lost my very healthy and very active partner, Andy, to colon cancer.  He was diagnosed at 47 years old at stage IV.  After spending as much time together as possible for the next three and a half years, we ran out of treatment options, and our future, after 28 years together, painfully became my future.  I will always fight for Andy and I have taken on many advocacy roles in his honor.

I’m thankful for the many advocacy opportunities available to me and I am proud to be a member of the Fight CRC RATS team, to be a member of the Patient and Family Advisory Council at our local hospital, and to have had the opportunity to work with a local organization to set up Andy’s Kayak Rentals in his memory. I often reflect on a quote that I once saw which says that we should take the very best of those we’ve lost and bring it out into the world in their honor. In advocacy, this is possible.

Role in Research Advocacy

• Call-on-Congress – Telling our story to members of Congress in a way that can impact legislation and funding decisions.
• Andy’s Kayak Rentals – This takes the active, outdoor loving, traits of Andy and combines them with spreading awareness of colorectal cancer into the local community and provides donations to Fight CRC.
• Young Investigator Workshop – As advocate attendees, we were able to sit with young investigators and tell them our stories. They actively engaged with us and were eager to understand how their work could make an impact in the lives of real patients.