As many of you know, my father, Paul Joseph Camozzi passed away of Lung Cancer on December 6, 2007. He was diagnosed in April and passed away 8 months later. He had just turned 61. Prior to his diagnoses, he was a healthy, happy, loving & kind husband, father, son & papa. He was a truly amazing person that touched each & every person he met in some way.

My goal is to support those who are currently battling lung cancer as well as to commemorate those who have lost their lives to this disease.

This is a letter that I wrote back in 2007 while my father was still batteling this horrible disease & it was published in the local papers .                             

"November will, no doubt, pass us by in a much less colorful fashion than October did with the pink ribbons of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We may get to Thanksgiving and no one will even know that in many states around the country, there are many, apparently less press-worthy, events occurring in observance of Lung Cancer Awareness Month....

Why should people listen to the awareness raising that will be happening during November? Because of the fact that most people don’t seem to know, which is that that lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in the US. Lung cancer will kill more people this year than the top five other cancers combined, including breast, prostate, and colon cancer. Combined.

So we ask ourselves, where are the Avon Walks to cure lung cancer? What about the race for this cure? Is it because lung cancer is a smoker’s disease? Well, it’s not. Approximately 60-65% of the people who are diagnosed today with lung cancer either quit years ago or never smoked in the first place. And even if smoking causes 85 % of lung cancers, is it fair to single out smokers to say they deserve it? No. No one deserves cancer. In the same way that no one deserves AIDS, or Diabetes, or stroke or any other disease or illness associated with our exposures or lifestyle choices.

This letter is for my father, who is now battling this horrible disease. He has stage 4 lung cancer. This is for the 17,920 Californians who have lung cancer and for the 160,390 who will die from it. This is for their families and loved ones, who will watch them suffer, not just physically, but emotionally, from the stigma of a disease that has no reason to be stigmatized. This is for their sons and daughters, who will be the advocates left behind when they are gone."

..............................I miss you.
 

Please help us raise awareness for this severely underfunded disease. With your support, we have an opportunity to help save thousands of lives.


Please forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate!

I dedicate this page in memory of him.