Personal Fundraiser

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birthday

Aleksandra Milicevic

MY PROGRESS

$4,091.00

RAISED

of my

$4,037.00

GOAL

MY DONORS

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Welcome to my birthday fundraising page! #forBeth

Dear friends,


as I am heading towards 50th birthday I abandoned being 35 (as I've been over the last decade or so). Last year you helped me raise $3,100 for Metavivor and I am very appreciative of that. This year, in lieu of expensive gifts, beautiful flowers, and fancy chocolates, I’m asking you to help me honor my friend Beth Caldwell by supporting the research for curing cancer!

Why is this cause important to me?
In 2013 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. That happens to 1 in 8 women in the US. I am ok now, as they say "it was caught early". However, 1 in 3 of those "early" breast cancers will eventually come back as Stage IV or MBC. There is NO such a thing as "caught early" for 30% of those of us who hit the MBC lottery. Additionally, about 10% of MBC patients are diagnosed as having MBC from the beginning.

What causes MBC? No one knows. Which early stage patients will metastasize? Not a clue. When? Whenever.

Metastatic Breast Cancer spreads beyond one's breast into distant organs: lungs, liver, brain, or bones. The average length of life between the moment of diagnosis with MBC and the moment of death is less than three years. Cancer in one's breast does not kill; MBC kills.

41,400 women and men died of MBC in 2017.
113 per day.
Every week I learn about deaths of women and men I know.
Every. Fukin. Week.

Why donating to Beth Caldwell Fund at Fred Hutch?
Beth Caldwell was a very dear friend. She was one of the most brilliant people I have never met. She was smart and kind. She was outspoken. She was fearless and fierce.

She was mighty!!!

Beth was a disability rights attorney for the U.S. Department of Education for 13 years, an activist for civil rights, and an advocate for those dying from breast cancer. Beth was a mother of two beautiful children and a devoted wife. She was only 37 when she was diagnosed with de novo metastatic breast cancer. MBC killed her on November 2nd, 2017, only 3½ years after the initial diagnosis.

Beth lived and died with passion and honesty. Finding a cure for dying cancer patients meant everything to Beth. She personally knew and believed in Dr. Kevin Cheung, an MBC researcher at Fred Hutch, whose will be the exclusive recipient of your donation. One of her last messages read: "Get Kevin’s research the money it needs!"

The Fund set up in memory of Beth at Fred Hutch raised $45,963 towards its goal of $50,000. Please help me honor my friend by fulfilling her wish by raising additional $4,037.

I will not see a dime of this fundraiser. For me, this is an "insurance policy" that there will be treatment options to give me a chance, if I turn out to be 1 out of 3 "early" diagnosed women that later on develop MBC. More importantly, your gift will give a fighting chance to my other friends to celebrate their birthdays.

That's what I want for my birthday: to honor Beth Caldwell by a gif that could extend my friends' lives.

At the time when government is slashing funds for cancer research, I feel that investing in research for treatment of MBC is of utmost importance.
If you're able, please make a small donation: $5 instead of sending me a birthday card or taking me out for a cup of coffee, or $41 for each year that my friend Beth lived. Or any other amount that you can afford. Whatever the symbolism, know that your donation goes to cutting edge research.

Let’s make it possible for more people to move beyond cancer and live life to the fullest —meaning more birthdays and many more reasons to celebrate.

I've started the ball rolling with a donation. Will you join me? 

(It is tax deductible, after all.)

Please donate today.

#forBeth
#stageIVneedsmore
#iamsusan
#pinkisnotacure