Dear Friends,                                             

 

I can hardly believe it, but it’s been almost a year since Erik passed away. I wouldn’t have made it this far without the love and support of wonderful friends and family like you. It’s been a year full of change, blessings, sadness and moving forward.

 

During Erik’s illness I came to realize several things about lung cancer. Namely, that people who never smoked (like Erik)get lung cancer and that it is by far the deadliest of all cancers. And tragicaally standard treatments to combat it are not very effective. But in Erik’s case ~ or Seabiscuit as I liked to call him because he beat the odds for over 6 years ~ I am absolutely positive that he would not have had those extra years with us if we had not searched the country for the latest clinical trials and best emerging treatments available. Erik was fearless. He participated in about a dozen clinical trials - all of which were considered to be highly experimental and dangerous because they were untested in humans. As he would like to say with that crazy sense of humor he had, "The stuff I'm taking has only been tested on lab rats so far"! He hoped the drugs would help him but he also wanted to push the research forward so that others would be helped from what was learned by testing the drugs on him.

 

Trying to find a way to do what Seabiscuit would have done, I’m looking for ways to support more research and hasten the development of potentially life-saving therapies to help others and to give back for the extra years I had with Erik.

 

To this end, along with over 50 dedicated friends, I have committed to running/walking as a member of "Team Hansen" in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K Run on Oct 26 in DC!!! And at my age (YIKES!) I’m going to need all the support I can get! I would love your support of any kind – prayers, good wishes, or even sponsorship which will go directly into funding research for lung cancer and continue Seabiscuit’s work!

 

Thank you for being the wonderful friends and family that you are! I know your support would make "The Biscuit" proud!

 

Love to all of you!

Pat

 

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