By ROBERT LINNEHAN
A local lung cancer survivor is striving to erase the stigmas attached to the cancer and to raise some money for a good cause at the same time.
Heather Geraghty, 24, is a lung cancer survivor after having two-thirds of her right lung removed just 23 days after being diagnosed with the disease in December of 2010. Geraghty will be hosting her own fund raiser to raise money for the LUNGevity Foundation.
The event will be held at Café Fontana’s at 30 E. Main St. in Maple Shade from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person, and will include a dinner buffet, draft beer, and wine. Door prizes will be given to the first 200 attendees, which include a “Cure Lung Cancer” wristband and entry into a raffle for a $50 gift card for Café Madison in Riverside. In addition, music, a 50/50 cash raffle, and Chinese auction will be available.
Geraghty discovered a problem on December 12, 2010 when she experienced persistent chest pain. Early the next day she received a CAT Scan at the Kennedy Hospital Emergency Room, which showed a mass in the middle lobe of the right lung. On Dec. 28, 2010 after a series of nonsurgical procedures a biopsy determined the mass to be a non-cell malignant tumor called Mucoepidermoid carcinoma. On Jan. 20, 2011 Dr. Joel Cooper of University of Pennsylvania removed two-thirds of Geraghty’s right lung.
Proceeds will benefit the LUNGevity Foundation. The foundation, according to its mission statement, tries to provide a meaningful and immediate impact on improving lung cancer survival rates, ensuring a higher quality of life for lung cancer patients, and providing a community for those impacted by lung cancer.
In addition to raising money to find a cure for lung cancer, Geraghty said she is hoping to educate people about lung cancer and to erase the negative stigmas that come along with the disease. Many people, she said, when they hear about lung cancer immediately think that it was brought from smoking and deserved.
“This is just so important for people to know about. A lot of people who have experienced it or know someone who has experienced it are afraid to come out and talk about it,” she said. “The stigmas are so strong with this disease. Nobody is every blamed for having diabetes, but people believe that lung cancer is brought upon themselves. I didn’t get lung cancer from being a smoker.”
For more information on the event, please contact Geraghty at 609–330–3617 or e-mail Heather042786@yahoo.com.
