KICK CANCER IN THE BALLS!!!!
We’re organizing our 1st Annual 7v7 Charity Soccer Tournament next Sunday (03/08) to raise money for a fellow FC Denver family in their fight against Cancer. We hope the entire club can get behind this important cause. Here are all the details for the tournament, followed by some comments and stories from current FC Denver members:
KICKING CANCER IN THE BALLS
Sunday, March 8th at Hampden Heights Park
Tournament Runs from 10am to 2pm
To Register and for More Information Visit FCDenver.org
YOUR DONATION OF $20/PLAYER WILL PROVIDE GREATLY NEEDED ASSISTANCE TO ANDREA SWANSON IN HER FIGHT AGAINST CANCER
Eric Fulton, FC Denver Club Director:
The stark reality is that Cancer will affect all of us whether personally or through a loved one. Approximately one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have cancer at some point during their lifetime (ACS). Cancer is currently affecting several member of the FC Denver Community and we want to do our small part to bring awareness and provide assistance.
This fun inter-club tournament provides the opportunity to provide real and direct assistance to a local family that has drained their savings in their prolonged fight against cancer. Here’s their story:
It has been 3 years since Andrea Tolosa-Swanson, wife of Dennis Swanson, FC Denver Masters Player, was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare but very curable form of cancer.
Andrea went through chemotherapy in the spring of 2006 followed by radiation treatment during the fall. By the winter of 2006, she was in complete remission (disease free). That only lasted 8 months. In fall 2007, she began prep treatment for a stem cell transplant and high dose chemotherapy that left her in and out of the hospital. She endured anautologous stem cell transplant (using her own stem cells from her blood) and was released from the hospital in late January with no signs of disease.
3 months later, the disease was back and the most recent round of treatments began. Her cancer has now become resistant to chemotherapy and continues to grow. There is one last option left for them and that is the clinical trial. All the while, the medical bills keep coming. This is where our club can be of assistance. We hope to raise $1,500 to assist Dennis and Andrea in their continued battle.
Lino Vitale, FC Denver Green team and management member:
“Ladies and gentleman, we all love to get together and play soccer with one another. We have built friendships, groups and family ties that we would not of had if it were not for this club! But as one of the leaders and voices of this club, I am asking you to make this event a HIGH priority!!! This is what life is about, not winning games, scoring goals, or bragging about your team!! This is about helping and supporting someone close to us and their family. This is something that we not only for the Swansons, but for all of us who have suffered from cancer in some way!
If you cannot afford the $20, give what you can, but above all come to support this and keep those in your prayers!!! We are FC DENVER…not white/green, not mens/womens; we are one club!!! It is easy to be involved when life is good, our character is measured when things are difficult!! Lets prove this club and ALL its family have that character!!!
I look forward to seeing a HUGE turnout…ciao for now…and FORZA FC DENVER!!!”
Raphael Martorello’s, captain of our Men’s Premier team:
His mother recently relapsed, 7 years after beating breast cancer, with a rare form of Leukemia. Here is her story told here in her son’s words:
“My mom had breast cancer 8 years ago and beat it. Unfortunately, the chemo and radiation she received caused chromosomes in her blood to be altered and 7 years later she came down with a rare form of Leukemia. When diagnosed, she was faced with a palliative care option (which means she would die in 4-6 months and just get treatment to ease the pain) or she was given a 2-5% chance of living if she went through a rigorous and not fun set of procedures to include chemo rounds and then a stem cell transplant. What further complicated her situation is that transplants require harsh chemo and typically those older than 60 (she is 65) are ruled out as the complications from the procedure cause organ failure such as heart attack, kidney failure, etc. She decided to go for it, and each step of the way was miserable but survived….stating she wanted to die a number of times in the process. She had 3 miracles. First, the chemo actually killed much of her bad cells (rare when you have a therapy-related type of leukemia like she did). Second, her body was able to rejuvenate and not relapse as quickly as expected (it was expected she would relapse in 2 weeks and not be eligible for a stem cell transplant…and she lasted 4-6 before relapsing). Third, her sister miraculously was a donor match, which allowed for us to get the stem cells donated rapidly before she relapsed and would be ineligible. Every step of the way, we hoped for the best but expected the worse….
….recently, she left the hospital on February 20th after having had her stem cell transplant. She has 100 days to see if the transplant sticks, but her odds are over 50% at this point. Now, when you live with this type of thing you are always worried about relapse, etc….but so far, so good. It is truly a miracle. Furthermore, in this day and age where the media and masses have fun beating up our medical system…my uncle who is a doctor in Switzerland told me that if she lived there, they would have gone straight to palliative care and not spent the money on a 2% case such as hers. In fact, he went with her records to a major university hospital that treats Leukemia patients in Switzerland, and they specifically gave him that feedback. Yet here in the US, we took the risk, gritted down and went for it, and potentially are looking at a very good result here.
She is keeping a journal that people can track her progress on and leave messages at www.caringbridge.org and her site name is daniellemartorello.”
If you get the chance, please stop by her site and wish her the best. Its small things like this that can really impact other lives. I hope this story relates the gravity of the cause and although, we can’t move mountains, we can each do our part to make the world a better place. I hope everyone can make it out to support the cause on Sunday.