To 2012 And Beyond!

– December 30, 2011Posted in: Matthew Zachary, CEO, Stupid Cancer

As I celebrate my 16-year cancerversary this week, I look back at the unprecedented progress and social change that has manifested since the launch of the I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation in January of 2007. It’s hard to believe it’s been five years but the calendar is harsh and does not lie. It is mind-blowing to see how much the landscape has changed for the young adult cancer patient, notwithstanding the fact that, while we’ve come so far, there is still much to be done.

I will tell you that 2012 is already shaping up to be an extraordinary year for the young adult cancer movement. We will reach more people. We will impact more lives. We will empower and mobilize even more people than ever before.

Between the 5th Annual OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults this March in Vegas, the launch of Season 10 of The Stupid Cancer Show on 1/16 and some groundbreaking new survivorship research you’ll be hearing about this Spring, we’ve never been more optimistic and inspired to continue innovating and pushing the needle forward.

On behalf of our Board, staff and legions of exceptional volunteers, we wish each and every one of you peace, healthy, happiness, prosperity and joy for the new year.

Thank you for your support, commitment and belief in our organization.

Matthew Zachary

–
Matthew Zachary
16-Year Young Adult Survivor
Founder/CEO
I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation

Please consider a last-minute, year-end, tax-deductible
gift of $10 or $20 to the foundation. Thank you.

About Matthew Zachary

Matthew Zachary was a 21-year old college senior and concert pianist en route to film school when he lost use of his left hand, was diagnosed with pediatric brain cancer (medulloblastoma) and told he'd likely never perform again. Fifteen years, four albums, a wife, twin children and scores of concerts later, Matthew's struggle to get busy living has inspired countless thousands. Today, he is an award-winning recording artist and performer, as well as an accredited thought-leader in public health, an authority on youth culture and a highly credentialed public speaker. A founding member of the Google Health Advisory Council, in 2007 he launched the I'm Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation, which has since become the nation's largest support community for young adults affected by cancer. The foundation was ranked a TIME Magazine Best 50 website and FOX News Top 10 Healthcare Blog and supports a global following of hundreds of thousands of friends, fans, readers, listeners and members. Matthew has helped to bring the cause of 'cancer under 40' to the national spotlight and has rallied a new crop of activists to give a much needed voice to this forgotten population. Matthew has helped to measurably reverse 30 years of disparity and create social lasting change in how the public relates to cancer for the next generation.

Ellie

My 29 year old son sent me a link to this website and I am so impressed. He is not a survivor but his dad, my husband, has brain cancer. It has been a horrific journey for the whole family and I am hoping my son gets involved with this wonderful organization. My husband’s cancer has been linked to his cell phone use and we are strong advocates for safe cell phone use. I have testified to Congress and been educated by worldwide experts on this issue. When you hear there is no link, that is the industry and our federal regulatory agencies (which are run by the industry) speaking. I tell you this for a reason- cancer patients have the right to know and the need to know that cell phone radiation is causing cancers wherever kept on the body. There is excellent peer reviewed science AND every manual tells you not to hold it to the body but it is hidden in tiny print no one reads. Please keep them out of your pockets and away from you when you sleep. You have been through too much to risk this. I know many young people suffering because they did not know. Please check out http://www.ethtrust.org and http://www.cabta.org. I am not a conspiracy theorist. My family learned the hard way and I do not want others to suffer as we have. Surgeries, chemo and radiation suck- PLEASE keep that cell phone off when on your body. Blessings for a great 2012 to all of you!
http://see-how-i-run.com/ Sah

Congratulations on your 16-year cancerversary (love that term!) and thank you for posting such an insightful, positive and humourous blog about cancer. I am 38 with stage three ovarian cancer and I still see myself as way too young to have this illness.
Dan Spinato

Congratulations to you and your foundation! Stories of hope like these never fail to inspire me, and I’m sure they do the same to a lot of other people.
d.m.h.

Congratulations on your 16 year cancerversary! That is awesome!!! Our family has been dealing with cancers the past five years or so. My oldest brother has multiple myeloma and reached his fifth year of his cancer fight in Dec. of 2011 and is still fighting, my sister has MGUS (which is a pre-cursor to the cancer my brother has) and my 7 year old great niece (my sister’s granddaughter) has Medulloblastoma and has been fighting since last May when they removed a tumor the size of the lemon from her brain. Her cancer hit me harder than my brother’s cancer because she was 6 when she was diagnosed; my brother was an adult when diagnosed. Congratulations to you and your foundation on what you are doing to bring awareness to cancer in young people out into the open.