March 9th marks a somber anniversary; the day Max lost his 3 year battle with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). For those of us who love Max, who either knew him then or who know and love him now, this will always be a day of sorrow. The words that come to mind are words such as ugly, unfair, impossible, and the feeling is one of emptiness; a whole in one’s heart. Max was a real person, a beautiful young child, whose encounter with cancer was nothing but a tragic episode.
Yes, we do so much in his memory; his spirit lives through those who are alive today, and I personally have found a calling I never would have envisioned. But don’t get me wrong; I would give it all up in a heartbeat to have Max back, to have taken away his pain and to see him today.
We do what we do every day because we can, and words cannot describe our gratitude for the opportunity. We have indeed built a magnificent global movement in his honor, and our commitment to access to treatment, care and support, and our vision or dignity and hope in the face of cancer is stronger than ever. But as anyone who has lost a young dear one knows, the hole in the heart remains. We acknowledge it and accept that it will always be there, and we learn to live with it.
And today, we pause to light a candle and say a prayer. I would like to invite you to light a candle today, for Max and for all the friends and loved ones who are no longer with us. Let’s be together through the power of social media by leaving a message in the guestbook, sharing our love for each other and let our togetherness be a reminder that cancer didn’t win. It made us stronger and more determined, for Max and for all those who are no longer with us.
Thank you,
Pat Garcia-Gonzalez
Pat Garcia-Gonzalez is the CEO of The Max Foundation. Under Pat’s direction The Max Foundation is dedicated to accelerating health equity by delivering medication, technology, and services to patients facing cancer and other critical illnesses, focusing our energy on those who no one else is helping. Pat lives in Edmonds, Washington, where she raised her four sons.
Surviving cancer in countries that lack the support and care, the word empowerment is not in patients’ dictionaries. But if we could increase the access to treatment and care in these countries, can we turn the tables?
For many patients, there aren’t many opportunities for them to learn about their disease directly from experts. So when the opportunity to hear from a hematologist at Naresuan University Hospital in Thailand, we were excited to maximize the event.
In Guatemala, there are 14,200 new cases of cancer a year and from this amount 9,100 people die of cancer or 64.7%. Most of these diagnoses could have been prevented or better treated if diagnosed early. In Guatemala only the persons who have access to the national social security plan have free services and treatment, but poor quality and lack of medications or in most occasions. People who do not have social security have to pay for health services and for medications. As per statistics taken from Globocan 2008, the most common cancers in Guatemala are prostate, cervix, stomach, breast and lung cancers.
