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Health & Fitness

March Mtg, Sports Basement, Make Voice Heard in Congress, Politics vs NIH funding

There are 5 elements to this posting:

Monthly Affiliate Meeting ,

Sports Basement support,

Find out what's happening in Gilroywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Make Your Voice Heard in Congress,

How Capitol Politics Affect Pancreatic Cancer Research

Find out what's happening in Gilroywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Pain webinar highlights,

 

Please join us for the monthly meeting for the Silicon Valley Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  The meeting is the 3rd Wednesday at the Sports Basement in Campbell at 6pm.  I don’t recall the agenda for the next meeting so that content will wait for the next Post, closer to meeting time.

Let’s do all we can to support Sports Basement as they have generously contributed space, screen, projector, refreshments and excellent personal support.

Don't forget Sports Basement is having a sale 20% off everything until it snows! Take advantage of this awesome opportunity while it lasts! I've attached a flyer for you it'd be awesome if the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network could spread the word!

 

Make your voice heard in Congress …

 **SPECIAL ALERT**

We apologize for the email we sent last week, which linked to an alert that did not work. The correct alert for your congressional district is below.

Dear Richard, 
Pancreatic cancer is currently included among the diseases funded by a research grant program administered by the Department of Defense (DoD). The House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee will soon be determining whether pancreatic cancer stays in that program and is eligible to receive funding next fiscal year. YOUR representative is in a unique position to influence this decision-making process.

Each year, members of Congress are given an opportunity to tell the Appropriations Committees what their federal funding priorities are for the year. Members have to follow a specific process to have their requests “counted,” which includes submitting the requests to a database. The committee uses these submissions to help determine the level of funding that programs receive. In this case, the committee will be determining if pancreatic cancer will still be eligible to receive DoD funding.
While DoD funding accounts for only a fraction of what the government spends on cancer research (almost all through the National Cancer Institute), it is very important that we secure this funding, which could potentially be millions of dollars for pancreatic cancer research. Please email your representative TODAY so that they know how important pancreatic cancer research is to their constituents and why it must continue to be included in the DoD budget.

The deadline for Members to submit requests is April 2, so please act today! 
Sincerely, 

Megan Gordon Don
Vice President, Government Affairs & Advocacy
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

 

How Capitol Hill Politics are Impacting Pancreatic Cancer Research

Register for the March 26 webinar. View this email in a web browser.

 Progress Matters: How Capitol Hill Politics 
Are Impacting Pancreatic Cancer Research

Wednesday, March 26 • 11 a.m. - Noon PT
Please note time zone differences below: 
Noon - 1 p.m. MT • 1 - 2 p.m. CT • 2 - 3 p.m. ET 


Register for this webinar
 *

 

We all know that more research is critical in our fight against pancreatic cancer.

Did you know that the federal government is the largest funder of pancreatic cancer research and that Congress controls the purse strings? Have you ever wondered how the decisions Congress makes about our federal budget impact the researchers who are trying to find breakthroughs in this disease?

What does all of this mean to you, and what can you do to help?

Join us for more insight on how federal spending cuts to research are impacting pancreatic cancer research advancements. We ALL play a critically important role in making sure pancreatic cancer researchers have the resources they need to continue their urgent work.

You will:

·  Learn about the federal research funding process, including how priorities are determined

·  Hear from a researcher on how Congress can impact – and has impacted – his work

·  Learn three things YOU can do right now to help protect pancreatic cancer research funding

Presenters

Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA
President and CEO
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

Channing Der, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Innovative Grant Recipient

Megan Gordon Don 
Vice President, Government Affairs & Advocacy
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

Click below to share
     
* Please register for and participate in this webinar using your personal computer. 
Due to system limitations, it is not possible to register or participate in the webinar using a mobile device.
To join the event on March 26 more quickly, you can set up Event Manager before the event starts. Go to: https://pancan.webex.com/pancan/ecsetup.php?frommail=1
For technical assistance at the start of the webinar, please contact WebEx Support at 
866-229-3239.

 

Dr Putman of Yale spoke today in a Pancreatic Cancer Action Network webinar about “Management of Pain, Symptoms and Side Effects”.  The talk will be posted soon at http://www.pancan.org/section_facing_pancreatic_cancer/learn_about_pan_cancer/educational_events/index.php  I was pleasantly surprised by the content.  As I had not experienced much pain during the course of my pancreatic cancer adventure, I didn’t appreciate the issues sufficiently well.   I had mild pain only at time of diagnosis, but much more severe for a few days after Whipple surgery.  Anyway, the biggest surprise to me was the distinction between Physical Dependence and Addiction.  Please read/listen to Dr Putman’s slides to appreciate the difference.  One of the opioids used for pain management is fentanyl which is 100-fold more powerful than morphine!  No wonder, in retrospect, that the diet craze, fen fen, proved to be so dangerous.  Another surprise to me was that Dr Putman’s best choice for heavy pain management is methadone, in spite of its “bad reputation” derived from recovering heroin addicts.  Another element that I found particularly interesting was that some of the pain medications are dopamine antagonists.  I have a friend with Parkinson ’s disease who was substantially helped by dopamine but I would not have suspected that pain medications could interfere.  The body is wondrous and complicated!

 

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