Out of the Office: PatientsLikeMe team spreads the word for Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Hi all! I’m Kara, a member of the Community team at PatientsLikeMe and the moderator for our lung cancer community. November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and what better way to kick it off than to join a fantastic group in raising awareness for this often overlooked condition. Along with some fellow PatientsLikeMe staffers — and little Hugo, our French Bulldog mascot for the day — I recently had the pleasure of walking at the LUNGevity Foundation’s ninth annual Breathe Deep Boston 5K Walk on Nov. 1, 2014.

Rain and winds couldn’t keep us away from Carson Beach in South Boston that Saturday morning as we laced up our sneakers to join Boston area survivors and families as they walked to show their support for those living with lung cancer and honor loved ones who are no longer with us.

Bill Shields, WBZ-TV reporter and Boston area resident, emceed the event. Shields is a lung cancer survivor himself and shared his personal story with the crowd. By far, the biggest highlight of our day was hearing the many touching stories, whether it was Shields or other advocates speaking to the crowd, survivors sharing stories huddled over hot cocoa or loved ones proudly displaying their personal motivations for walking emblazoned on “I walk for _______” t-shirts or in stories written along the walls of the Sign-In tents. Check out some additional photos from the event on LUNGevity’s Flickr account.

Walking in the Breathe Deep 5K was just one small way to do our part to help shine a spotlight on lung cancer, show our support for survivors and help improve research funding for future patients. Everyone was out, not just supporting a great cause, but showing the power of people working together. This camaraderie and dedication to change is something I feel privileged to see in our growing lung cancer community on PatientsLikeMe, where members are working every day to raise awareness, share experiences to advance medical research, and help one another live better, together.

PatientsLikeMe member KaraSmith

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