Each year the Foundation selects deserving candidates, individuals battling cancer or the family members supporting that fight, and promising young students with bright futures. to be recipients grants or scholarships from the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation to help ease their financial burden.

Bob Sweeney of Dudley, MA, 63, was busy working to support his family – wife Judi and raising their 13-year-old grandson. They are very devoted to Troy and enjoyed attending his school activities and soccer games.

In September of last year, Bob – a Navy veteran and 2-time colon cancer survivor -- got the devastating news that the cancer had returned and had spread. He quickly began treatment.

Because of Bob’s treatment, he had to leave his job; and the family was faced with struggling to pay their bills. Parents from the community, kids in Troy’s class and on his soccer team, and members of the Sweeney’s church came together and began collecting gift cards and clothes and food to help their friends through this difficult time and to relieve some of the worry so Bob and his family could focus on fighting the cancer and hopefully, give him precious more time with his wife and grandson. Through a series of friends reaching out to help friends, word reached the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation that a family in Dudley, MA, may benefit from the good work the foundation does to help people battling cancer.

When Jim Comer heard their story, he thought they would be good candidates for a grant from the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation and arranged to visit the Sweeney’s. After meeting with Jim, Bob and Judi were impressed and comforted by Jim’s quiet and gentle nature and were very moved by Jim’s story. Bob would later tell his wife that Jim had touched his soul. The decision was made to award this quarter’s grant to the Sweeney’s. The grant will allow them to stay current on their bills and relieve that burden of worry.

While the grants provided by the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation help people to meet their financial obligations and relieve some of the burden from waging war on cancer, the reaching out to touch other human beings on a very basic and personal level is truly priceless!

On Wednesday December 7th at the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance meeting at UMass Memorial Hospital, Jim Comer presented Dr. Giles Whalen a grant from the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation.

The grant goes directly to pancreatic cancer research and phase 1, 11, 111 trials at the UMass Memorial Worcester Campus.

PCCF gave a grant to Michael Briggs, who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2010.

Read about Michael, his life and his battle with cancer via Dianne Williamson's recently published article in the Worcester, MA. Telegram.

Our first quarter 2011 PCCF grant went to City of Hope, the renowned NCI Comprehensive Cancer Care Center in Duarte, CA. For nearly 100 years, City of Hope’s pioneering research has brought the world closer to cures for many life-threatening diseases, from cancer to diabetes. [Learn more >> page 1, page 2 ]

Joe Komsky (pictured right), Senior Officer Gift Planning, thanks the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation for their grant, which will be directed to The Social Services Fund in supports of City of Hope patients with expenses not covered by health insurance while undergoing treatment.

PCCF gave a grant in support of Pancreatic Cancer research and clinical trials through the UMASS Pancreas Program and the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.

Pictured left, Jim and Cheryl Comer present a grant to Audrey Curlan Marcy, Chair of the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.

As part of the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation awareness mission, we made a grant to the 15-40 Connection in July 2010.

The 15-40 Connection was born out of an alarming statistic. It is one that has cut lives short and impacted many hundreds of thousands. Nearly 70,000 15 to 40-year-olds in the United States are diagnosed with cancer every year. Yet, cancer survival rates for this age group have been nearly stagnant since 1975.

How can this be true? When an ache, pain, or fatigue does not go away 15 to 40-year-olds typically wait, and then wait some more for it to resolve itself. They attribute the change in their health to stress or feel that calling a doctor is over-reacting. What they do not know is the most obvious sign of cancer is an often subtle change in your normal health. Time spent waiting for these issues to resolve themselves provides cancer with time to progress. Cancer is much more difficult to treat at more advanced stages. This is a major contributor to this alarming statistic.

The 15-40 Connection is dedicated to creating a world where "invincible" adolescents and young adults take their medical care and cancer screenings seriously. Motivating teens and young adults to take action when they notice changes in their normal health and to be strong self-advocates when their instincts tell them something is wrong will save lives and improve cancer survival rates.

From Dylan's mother, Megan Seymour: When I was 7 months pregnant, the doctors said there was a big possibility that Dylan would have Downs Syndrome due to measurements in the nucofold. I was sent to Boston for further ultrasound tests and they had the same conclusion. The only test to further show a definite answer was the amnio which I refused. My husband and I decided we could handle whatever was to come.

On April 19th, 2007, Dylan was born without Downs! He was a healthy baby with 10 fingers and toes! Kris and I were relieved. He soon became our most active and rambunctious child. The word mischievous does Dylan no justice! His speech was delayed, but the doctor reassured me that it was because he was the youngest of three children and that this was common.

When Dylan was always sick with the minor cold, but with other kids in and out of school all day, I figured this too was normal. In April of 2008, Dylan had been sick with the runny nose and cough for almost 3 months. We went to NC for a wedding and as soon as we got down there Dylan’s symptom disappeared. I chalked it up to allergies.

The following year in February 2009, Dylan became very ill and he was hospitalized for the croup. At this time we also noticed terrible bruising on his feet and legs, and also his belly. After that our world turned upside down. After his release from the hospital, he seemed to be on the mend, but the cough came back which turned into bronchitis then into pneumonia. His pediatrician had us coming in every day for blood work. The first few days the white cell count was high, but that is normal when the body fights off an infection. Finally after almost two weeks of blood tests, the doctor said he was referring us to Children’s Hospital in Boston because he couldn’t figure out what was going on. After a few weeks of blood tests in Boston, they suggested a bone marrow aspiration to get to the bottom of it. One week later on 8/31/09 Dylan was diagnosed with JMML, juvenile mylomonocytic leukemia. This is a rare childhood leukemia that only affects 25-50 children per year and accounts for only 1% of all childhood leukemia.

The only treatment option for JMML is a bone marrow transplant, because chemo does nothing to kill the cancer. The search began... our family was tested to be possible matches but none of us were. Dylan was put on the national bone marrow list. My sister and another good friend of ours held bone marrow and blood drives in Dylan’s name and both had amazing outcomes. While the family and friends were doing their part to be supportive, Kris and I found ourselves at the Jimmy Fund Clinic almost every other day. Dylan’s counts were dropping dramatically and he began to undergo many blood transfusions. He was dieing in front of our eyes and there was nothing to do but pray that he gets a match ASAP.

In the beginning of November, we got the GREAT news that Dylan has a match and that she has agreed to go through with the procedure to save his life. Dylan was admitted to the hospital the following week due to fevers, but we ended up staying to begin the process. On November 22nd, the heavy chemo started, and on December 3rd, his transplant was completed. This was a horrible experience, but Dylan remained strong through it all. My husband, Kris, and I stayed with him the entire time. My mother and stepson’s mother stayed at our home to care for our daughter. The two of them cared for our other children during our stay at Children’s Hospital. I forget the actual release date because I lost track of time, but in early January, Dylan was released from the hospital!

Dylan has a long road ahead and lots of care that he needs at home, as well as many visits per week to clinic. He must still be in seclusion for about a year, which means no visitors. This is a long, lonely road, but we will walk whatever path given to us to keep him healthy and happy.

The 2010 Patrick Comer Courage Foundation Scholarship Recipients have been named. Chris Rodgers and Tim Barrett, a freshman and sophomore at Saint John's High School respectively, accepted their scholarhips at the annual January luncheon.

Jim and Cheryl Comer are once again very happy with the foundation's choices. "Chris and Tim are two great young men and we are very proud that they have chosen to attend Saint John's with assistance from PCCF."

Greg Fingar was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2005. In the time since Greg, 53, was diagnosed the family has remained extremely positive and has never once let the statistics that come with pancreatic cancer beat them down. They have done tireless research, consulted numerous specialists, and assembled for Greg a crackerjack team of doctors.

"If you listen to statistics, I would be dead right now”, Greg confided. But, instead, he continues to battle this devastating disease. Greg has had several surgeries and continues state of the art chemotherapy treatments.

Greg and his wife, Dale, and two sons are an inspiration to all families that battle cancer every day and the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation is extremely proud to have Greg and his family as our most recent grant recipients.

Greg joined us recently at our 2009 Patrick Comer Courage Foundation golf outing and fundraiser at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts. He is shown in this photograph with his sister-in-law, Darlene Schoen, and his wife, Dale.

On Sunday, March 8, 2009, over 100 people came to support Michele Franchi at a fundraiser at the Knights of Columbus in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Michele, a single mother, is facing her second battle with breast cancer.

The good news is, she has a great prognosis, but is struggling financially due to being unable to work through her treatment. Jim and Cheryl Comer attended the event and presented Michele with a check from the Patrick Comer Courage Foundation.

In December 2007, Peter Ribaudo, received a diagnosis of lymphoma - broadly described as a type of cancer affecting blood, bone marrow and/or lymph nodes. After a series of successful radiation treatments, Peter learned that the lymphoma returned. He began chemotherapy immediately upon diagnosis of the lymphoma’s recurrence. Doctors detected early effects of the lymphoma in some of Peter’s organs, including his liver.

In addition, the cancer caused lesions on a vertebra on Peter’s back, his hip and one of his femurs. The lesions on the femur deteriorated the bone just enough to cause small stress fractures, requiring surgery to install a steel rod in Peter’s femur.

In October 2008, Peter received a syngeneic stem cell transplant from his identical twin brother, Ben. Doctors don't see that often and the main benefit (besides Ben's giving this gift to Peter) is that Peter will not have to face any of the graft/host complications. When there is not a perfect match, the new stem cells will reject the host and as a result, there are many complications that have to be dealt with including outright rejection, illnesses related to the transplant and lots of extra treatments to deal with these complications. This transplant will be as if Peter were giving himself the new stem cells. His body is expected to accept the new stem cells and the new stem cells are expected to be happy to be added into Peter's system...like old friends.

Foundation members can continue to follow Peter's story and send Peter their support through Peter's CaringBridge website.