October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and there is still such a huge need to make everyone aware of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), its troubling characteristics, and why it must be studied much more so that it is understood and can be treated.
It is also eight months since we lost a dear friend and Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance Board of Directors member Dr. Deborah Mueller to metastatic lobular breast cancer. From the moment Deb joined the LBCA Board of Directors she was dedicated to helping us assist others in finding the most current information about ILC; to participating in the worldwide, supportive community of others going through or living with ILC; and to providing a place to join forces to advocate for and raise funds for more ILC research.
In Deb’s honor, the LBCA community and her family are engaging in events that will educate others about ILC and raise funds to support more lobular breast cancer patient advocacy and research.
Remembering Deb with a Run in San Antonio
Every year, the LBCA team and many others with ILC attend the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). This is the largest breast cancer research conference in the world. It is a fantastic forum for learning new science about breast cancer, and slowly but surely, there are an increasing number of poster presentations about ILC research. In addition, this year will include an ILC-focused session sponsored in part by LBCA. Last year, Deb attended the symposium with us and opened her beautiful home in San Antonio for a dinner that included ILC researchers and patient advocates. The warmth exuded by Deb and her family at that dinner was emblematic of all their love and compassion. The terrible shock of losing her soon after still reverberates so sadly in all of us, and inspires us to double down on all that we are doing to raise awareness and fund ILC research.
To honor Deb’s memory, the LBCA Board of Directors is taking part in the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Run that is occurring the weekend before SABCS. Board members will run or cheer wearing T-shirts promoting ILC research and paying tribute to Deb. A QR code is part of the T-shirt design so anyone present can make a gift to LBCA in honor of Deb. We invite everyone to make a donation in Deb’s honor now through the end of the year.
Additionally, if you are interested in setting up a recurring gift to LBCA in Deb’s memory, please do so via our main donate page. You can select the option to make the gift in memory of someone and enter the person’s name.
Pink Out
Deb’s legacy also lives on supporting LBCA in many ways including through the generosity of her family, friends in the San Antonio medical community, and all over the world. Deb’s husband Dr. John Doski and daughters Julia and Sarah are committed to working to support LBCA as long as it is needed. They are taking part in events to support LBCA in their Mom’s memory.
Julia recently led her high school volleyball team in conducting a Pink Out to raise awareness of ILC and benefit the work of LBCA. The Pink Out, called the Dig Pink, filled her high school gym with spectators in pink shirts and raised nearly $3,000 for LBCA.
We are grateful for all that Deb did and what her family continues to do for LBCA and the quest to end lobular breast cancer.
