Fighting Cancer with my Family and Friends at Relay For Life 17

Greetings friends. This is a special weekend where we remember those people we have lost to cancer over the years and encourage and embrace those of us who are still fighting this horrible disease.

As you can see on the photo, the team that my daughters created is called Early Birds. That’s because those who get tested and find out early that they have cancer are much more likely to survive and have a good outcome than those who don’t. I am so proud to say that due to my pushing over the last year and a bit, 17 people have had PSA tests and as well as knowing they do not have prostate cancer and in one case no breast cancer, they now have a baseline to allow them to catch it early if they do get prostate cancer like me and their survival rate will go up dramatically if they get a little blood test every year.

You will see the number 17 on the back and my daughter’s name on the bottom of the shirt, which was designed and made by her company Empire Promo. The 17 is made up of the names of the people I mentioned above, family and friends that our team is going to spend today honouring, all night and into the morning walking around a track at Millennium Institute on Auckland’s North Shore. You can see there are a lot of names and with a few late additions to the team there would be more if there had been time.

So today and tomorrow we will be walking to honour our people, to help fund research for accessible cures that save lives and don’t require that people sell their homes to pay for treatment, have somewhere to stay if they are coming to Auckland from out of town, like some of the great people I met when I was having radiation treatment at Mercy Hospital, and to thank those of you who donated to our cause, for your generosity. Whilst we do enjoy the event, the camaraderie and activities, we are here for only one reason, which is to save lives.

If you are one of the many people who donated to my account I want to thank you sincerely for your contribution. This is my 4th Relay and my second as a cancer patient. I am 25% short on my target of $1,000. If you would still like to donate, it isn’t too late and you can do so on my Relay For Life page here. I suspect most of you donated either for me (which is very humbling) and/or because of challenges you and people you care about have faced with cancer. I will dedicate laps to each of you and yours and especially to some very good friends who are still fighting the fight and aren’t in a condition to make it today. You know who you are.

I am planning to post a Facebook Live video at some stage so those of you who are friends with me on Facebook will be able to see a little of the event. For the rest, I will put something on YouTube after the event so you can see it too.

I won’t go on. You can follow me on Twitter under the handle of BluesBro, there will be some photos and tweets there as the weekend goes on. If you see them, please let me know. It would be great to share the event with you.

I do also want to send out a special thanks to my friends and colleagues at the New Zealand Transport Agency and Auckland Transport who have supported me in so many ways to date including donations, but much more than that. It hasn’t been the easiest of years and with awesome people giving me encouragement and helping me out during the tougher times, it has given me strength and Hope. 

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Relay For Life 16 Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

It’s almost over and tomorrow is the start of the big weekend. I want to thank all of you for your amazing support for my journey with prostate cancer and Relay For Life 16 which starts tomorrow.

If you are in the neighborhood, the Opening Ceremony at the Millennium Institute will be at 3:45 PM and I will be one of a small group giving a brief speech, which is a huge honor in part due to the number of you who have donated to our team Early Birds. Following that we have the first lap led by those of us who have been told “You have cancer” and our supporters and partners. It would be great to have you join us if you can.

If you want to come and say hi or walk a lap with us, our tent is at site A8 right on the side of the track on the opposite side to to main Millennium building.

We have dropped to 5th place in the fund raising rankings, being beaten by 3 schools and a bank, which are hard acts to follow as we are just a small group supporting friends and family. But what a great job you have done! For me personally you have donated over $1,500, our team over $6,000 which adds up to about 4% of the total of around $150,000 which will help the Cancer Society save lives and make the journey easier for cancer sufferers like myself.

I want to give a special thanks to Gemma and Tracy, my daughters, who set our team up for me after asking what they could do to help me get through this horrible disease. They have been awesome. Also to Gemma and Mark for the awesome singlet and hoodies they designed and had made. The 16 (for 2016) is made up of the names of the people our team are walking and running for (for 18 hours!), so we can carry those people with us.

It’s not too late to donate $5 if you haven’t already done so, by going to my page at https://aucklandnorthrelayforlife2016.everydayhero.com/nz/luigi. It’s also never too late to go and get a PSA test guys and I am so proud that 13 of you have been motivated by me to go and get tested and as well as all being clear, now have a base line for future tests.

I will be posting pics on my Twitter account https://twitter.com/bluesbro so if you want to stay in touch and see what’s happening and send me some support.

I am very grateful to the Cancer Society for what they do and to your for your support. This isn’t just about supporting the 1 in 3 people in NZ who will be diagnosed with cancer during their lives (think about those numbers in terms of your family, friends and colleagues), it has also been a welcome distraction for me, something to be focused on and excited about.

As I go through this journey it is about having things to look forward to and making the most out of one day at a time. I am working on lots more things to look forward to, but most of all it is about friends and family. Things are cool, but ultimately its about people and you have helped me more than you realise.

I have never been one to ask for help. The support helps me, but the money may help you and yours in the future. The Cancer Society is not funded by taxes, rates or anything other than donations. So this is the last time and I won’t be asking again. If you can spare $5, please do so at https://aucklandnorthrelayforlife2016.everydayhero.com/nz/luigi.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I have to get to work!!!!

 

The Right Track Programme

This morning I read a story in The Aucklander about The Right Track programme which is an intense program for first time motoring offenders to get them to think twice in the future about boy racing, drinking and driving and other motoring activities that are dangerous to themselves and innocent bystanders.

According to the police this programme is having good results, but it seems that funding from Manukau City Council is going to end. They said that it was never a long term exercise.

Amongst other things members of the programme visit the Otara Spinal Unit and meet survivors who now need a wheelchair for their mobility. Funeral Directors talk to them about how they have to pick up body parts after an accident and try to put them together for funeral viewing.

It’s all about having the ambulance at the top of the cliff according to John Finch who developed the programme which is a world first.

My father in law has had throat cancer and as a consequence had a laryngectomy. In conjunction with the NZ Cancer Society he visited many primary schools and told his story. He let the children have a look at the whole in his throat and see how he can talk. He let them ask questions and gave them honest answers. It’s interesting how onto it kids are. He has dozens of letters from students saying that they will never ever smoke. I would say he has probably saved at least one or two lives, which probably represents a six figure sum at least to our health system.

An ambulance at the top of the cliff has to be significantly greater than the cost of mopping people of the road after a needless accident, but unless funding is found, this excellent and selfless service will disappear.

I wrote a song about situations that kids find themselves. It’s called One More Time Around the Block and you can hear it at Music Forte.

It thundered down the road like a young boy racers dream

The Rockford Fosgate sub beat like a life support machine

They never saw what hit them on the wrong side of the bend

They didn’t have an inkling that their lives were going to end.

The mourners stood in silence dressed in dark clothes, mostly black

A mother screamed her lungs out, cried “I want my baby back”

Their friends stood round in circles, still not coping from the shock

They said they be five minutes, one more time around the block.

They were best of friends like they were tied at the seam

They knew what each was thinking and they shared the same big dreams

They were just young men in the prime of their life

Their futures lay before them, empty pages still to write.

But now those days are over and their lives have been snuffed out

The sub’s no longer thumping and their hearts have lost their clout

If only they had listened, if only they had stopped

They said they’d be five minutes one more time arouind the clock.

And now the music’s playing and the mourners begin to pray

They sing the Lord’s Prayer and ask themselves

Why did it end this way?

The V8’s sound like thunder, can’t you hear the engine’s roar?

Car horns sound a last salute with feat flat to the floor

Wish we could have changed the outcome, wish we could have stopped the clock

They said they’d be five minutes, one more time around the clock

They said the’d be five minutes, one more time around the clock.

While this blog is starting to get a good following, I would love to get more readers and encouraging me to keep writing. If you feel that my blog is interesting I would be very grateful if you would vote for me in the category of best blog at the NetGuide Web Awards. Note that the form starts each site with www whereas my blog doesn’t and is of course https://luigicappel.wordpress.com.

Thanks so much for your support:)