positivity

Many Big Thanks for Helping Me Light The Night in NYC

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On a beautiful evening this past Wednesday, I took part in my first Light The Night Walk, with my teammate Sue and I raising over $5000 together for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Thanks to the generosity of our families and friends, we’ll help fund therapies and treatment advances for blood cancer patients. Whether you gave $5, $50, or $350, know that you’re saving the lives of people like me who have these diseases.

The walk kicked off at Pier 57, now renamed SuperPier. (On a side note, as a publication designer, I thought it was cool when I read in The New York Times that the name came from a 1952 Popular Mechanics article.)  It took awhile for everyone to get outside, but once we did, the walk along Hudson River Park was a very nice way to spend the evening. Sue and I were members of the Bright Lights Club, having raised over $1000 each. Everyone who raised over $100 was a Champion for Cures, and carried a balloon, which had a light inside it, in one of three colors: white for survivors and patients, red for supporters, and gold in memory of loved ones lost.

The event was very inspirational, and I’m proud that my team surpassed its fundraising goal. If you wanted to give, but didn’t, there’s still plenty of time. Donations will be accepted through the end of the year, and can be made online through my fundraising page, or if you’d prefer to give by check, please click here to email me for the address. In the meantime, I’m sending everyone a big hug of thanks for all your love, support, and generosity!

Countdown to Light The Night

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Colorful balloons

Light The Night Walk is this Wednesday, and thanks to many generous donations, I’ve raised over $3100, so far! There’s still time to make a donation, or join Team Joe_C at SuperPier in NYC. I’ve set my team goal at $5000, and we’re only $1,100 away from reaching it. The money we’re raising will fund therapies and treatment advances for blood cancer patients. Your generosity will save lives.

Balloons are the symbol for light the night. Read how they also played a part in Live A Big Life Celebration Day, a powerful tribute to my friend Jerry’s late nephew, Cam.

Image: Graphicstock.com

Midterm Report: Chemo Trifecta

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Ten weeks have passed since my Lymphoma adventure started. I continue to do very well, and had a great week on the journey I’ve been taking.

I finished round 3 of chemo last friday, and the side effects were, again, minimal. The most significant has been the fatigue, which an afternoon catnap and a tall half-caf from Starbucks pretty much takes care of. My biggest worry, like last time, was reacting to the Neulasta shot that I get to reduce the risk of infection while my white counts are low, a condition called neutropenia. People often experience bone pain, which I did pretty severely after the first round, but much less so after the second one. This time, it was about the same as round 2, maybe even slightly less so, and was again manageable with a little Tylenol.

I was able to connect in person with some friends for lunch and coffee—nice to see you Linda, Gloria, Joni, Ted, and Bill—some others for dinner and Scrabble—good game Jim and Kristy (btw, check out their sites if you need a massage or copy editing, respectively)—and also meet face-to-face for the first time with Zeth, my new Cancer Pal and colleague at NYU SCPS CADA. (Seriously, everything at NYU has to have at least three words in its name and an acronym.)

On the career front, I continue to stay busy, which is helpful to keep me from going stir crazy as treatment becomes more and more routine. I’m focusing on my online teaching, which lets me work from home and have a flexible schedule. That’s a huge plus if I have appointments or just want to take a break and rest a bit. My new course, Design For Coders, for new client LearnToProgram.tv, is open in early access for beta testing, and I self-published another, Interactive PDFs with Adobe InDesign: No-Code Digital (click here to get it for free through the end of the month). I was also excited to be honored with a 2013 American Graphic Design Award!

It’s a little hard to believe that I’m over the halfway mark, but I’m looking forward to continuing full speed ahead through the second half, and having a strong finish in November. Thanks to everyone for your continued love, support, and positive thoughts/prayers/vibes/energy. Lotsa love to you all!

Oh, and PS: I ordered the 32GB iPhone 5s in Space Gray. 🙂

The People We Meet

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This French short beautifully captures how we can affect each other’s life, and the music is as charming as the illustration and animation. I love that it uses balloons as a symbol of friendship, love, and caring, which I realized is a nice connection to the Light The Night Walk, which also uses them. Just a reminder, I’m walking on Wednesday, September 25th, and you can help or join me.

If you can’t see the video here, just refresh your browser.

FLOATING IN MY MIND from GOBELINS pro on Vimeo.

 

Cancer Pals

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Hollis, my friend, colleague, and fellow cancer survivor (yes, I unapologetically will take the liberty of making that prediction) wrote this in a message to me, after learning the news of my diagnosis:

Something that will surprise you (as it did me) is that you may make a circle of cancer pals.”

One of those cancer pals, is Zeth. My friend, CM, who is also a survivor, knows his sister-in-law, and realized that he and I both teach in the same department at NYU, were both diagnosed with the same type of lymphoma, and both have blogs about it. What are the odds?! Zeth included me in a post in his blog, and so I’m returning the favor, with a thanks to him and all my pals, cancer and otherwise.

Over A Thousand Dollars in Three Days

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Origami heart made from paper money

Click photo for origami instructions.

In just three short days, I’ve already met and passed my personal fundraising goal for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society‘s Light The Night Walk! Thanks to the generosity of my friends and family, over a thousand dollars will go to leukemia and lymphoma research, and there’s still plenty of opportunities for you to help and participate.

Since the event is over a month away, I’ve set the bar higher, and set a new personal fundraising goal of $2000. If you’d like to donate, please click to visit my personal fundraising page, and if you’d like to walk with me on September 25 in NYC, click to join Team Joe C.

Every amount, no matter how small, will help fund life-saving research and make a difference. Only have a dollar to give? No problem! Better yet, ask four friends each to match you, and now you’ve got five dollars. What, you say you can each afford to give two dollars? Awesome, now you’ve raised ten dollars that will help fund research for treatments that will wipe out cancer!

For everyone who has donated so far, again, thank you so much, and thanks in advance to everyone who will be giving. One last thing, please be sure to ask your employer if they’ll match your donation and make it count twice!

 

 

Light The Night Walk: How to Give and Join Team Joe C

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Wow, only a day into my fundraising for the Light The Night Walk in Manhattan on September 25, I’ve hit 22% of my goal, and have a fellow team member! Thanks so much to everyone who has donated and signed up to walk with me. Your generosity will fund therapies and treatment advances for blood cancer patients, and will be helping to save lives. To give, visit my fundraising page, and to join us on the walk, visit the Team Joe C homepage. Be sure to check out the donors’ comments, which will be an inspiration to me every step of the way, and beyond.