Dear Mr. President,
I expect you get thousands of letters each week so I hope this one makes it to your desk.
I got the greatest and most unexpected gift possible this Christmas. My oncologist released me from his care. After nearly 11 years since my diagnosis with stage-3b rectal cancer, he said the possibility of recurrence is less than one percent, down sharply from the 95 percent possibility during the first five years after diagnosis.
I’m writing to thank you and your Administration for your commitment to the fight against cancer. I believe in my heart that I am a cancer survivor because of the work of researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. I know you have been a supporter of NIH and NCI funding since your earliest days as a Senator. And, of course, your Cancer Moonshot initiative is destined to end cancer as we know it.
I know you’re familiar with the pain and suffering cancer patients experience being at the bedside of your beloved son, Beau. Your book, Promise Me, Dad, is one of my all-time favorites. While my experience was hard, it could have been far worse. I have a permanent colostomy and neuropathy in my feet because of cancer, and new and random maladies seem to crop up every year. But, I’m still here.
I dedicate much of my time to cancer advocacy, working for organizations like the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Fight Colorectal Cancer, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, Cancer Support Community of East Tennessee, Thompson Cancer Survival Center and others. My hope and prayer is to reach the day when cancer truly becomes an artifact of history, or is treated like a chronic illness rather than a catastrophic one.
I was heartened that two friends of mine, Lisa Lacasse, president of ACS CAN and someone I’ve been proud to advocate beside for years and years, and Anjee Quiko Davis, president of Fight CRC who I look forward to working with more in the future, were at the White House in July as part of a group discussing strategies for making the fight against colorectal cancer a larger priority. Personally, I’m concerned that colorectal cancer is on track to be the leading cause of cancer death for people under 50 by 2030. There is so much more we need to do to fight this disease that is becoming a scourge on young people.
I was 43 when I was diagnosed in 2012. I know of children and teenagers who have died from colorectal cancer. I am ever mindful of dear friends of mine and fellow advocates who are in the fight for their lives right now, people diagnosed with young-onset colorectal cancer.
I pray that you and the Cancer Moonshot team will redouble all efforts to fight colorectal cancer, so that more patients will hear what I did from my oncologist just a few days before Christmas.
Additionally, Mr. President, I would love it if you would declare March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month with a proclamation from the White House. And maybe have the White House team bathe the White House in blue light during the month of March. Your help would go a long way toward making the fight against colorectal cancer a national priority.
Thank you for your time and your commitment to the fight against cancer.
Sincerely,
Michael Holtz
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