Hi Family and Friends,

Just a quick note to let you know that we are set to participate in our 5th annual Angels Among Us 5K Run/Walk on Saturday April 25th, 2020 at the Duke Medical Center in Durham, NC. Our team name is still Friedman's Fighters in honor of our amazing surgeon, Dr. Allan Friedman, for whom we will be forever grateful!  And yes we have a new t-shirt design this year!  We are raising funds for the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center via this incredible event.  The event is the single largest source of unrestricted funds and most critical for the research and development of advances in brain tumor treatment. We'd love you to join us at the event in April but if you can't make it we understand. If you're interested, see the brief update on Shawn below. If you can't join us but you'd like to make a donation that's great too, but please do not feel pressured.  We know there are many great causes but this one just happens to be near and dear to our hearts (and brains:).

How to join our team:

Go to this link and click on JOIN TEAM on the right and sign up:

https://www.supportdukehealth.org/site/TR/Angels/AngelsAmongUs?team_id=24889&pg=team&fr_id=1530

How to just make a donation:

Go to the same link as above and click on DONATE on the right and fill everything in.

Update:

We're down to just 2 MRIs a year now. Thankfully, the last MRI in November showed that everything is still looking good with no issues or immediate concerns. Our next MRI is 2 days for the Angels Among Us event so hopefully we'll be sharing more good news with you at the event.

Why Give to The Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke:

Public research funds are distributed based on the incidence of a given disease. Because brain cancer causes just two percent of all cancer deaths each year, it is officially classified as an “orphan disease” – a term that sums up its place in the eyes of federal funding agents.

Corporate sources are also limited. There are more than 120 identified types of brain malignancies, each with different chemical profiles and behaviors. Developing an effective new drug comes at a very high price. The market for such narrowly targeted drugs is simply too small for pharmaceutical companies to make big investments in for clinical investigation.