The Journey

A couple of weeks ago, Ed and I went went to the premiere of an educational video on esophageal cancer and Barrett's Esophagus. Our friend, Jeff Stemberger, was the subject of the documentary which was produced by St. Joseph Mercy Health in conjunction with Jeff's family.

The purpose of the video is to tell Jeff's story regarding his battle with esophageal cancer, create awareness, increase prevention efforts, educate the public about the symptoms and treatments available, and to teach people how to reduce their chances of developing this deadly cancer. It is entitled "Tell Everyone My Story" The Journey of Jeff Stemberger.

According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2008, over 16,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with esophageal cancer and over 14,000 lost their battle. Simply put, it is the fastest growing cancer in America.

Some of the risk factors include just being male. Men are three times more likely to develop this cancer than women. Smoking, heavy drinking, diet and obesity all play a role in developing this cancer as well. It can also be hereditary. For Jeff, his risk factor came in the form of acid reflux. A symptom of reflux is heartburn. 

When I received the invitation in the mail about a month ago, I was excited to finally see the first step of Jeff's vision come to fruition. When I arrived at the premiere, I took my seat in the auditorium, listened to some opening comments, and then thought about what a great day this was. It was not a day to be sad at the passing of Jeff, but rather a day to be happy about this being the beginning of a new chapter for his family and St. Joseph Mercy Health as well. I thought, I can do this...and then as it progressed, I fell apart.

Seeing his family speak on camera spoke volumes to me. Seeing his caretakers talk about his attitude and strength made me feel proud to have known him. Seeing his coworkers talk about his personality and perseverance, made me wish I had spent more time with him and his family, outside of chit chatting at our sons' baseball games or crossing paths at school open houses. Of course, I thought there would be more time. What's the rush? We have lots of baseball games to watch and school events to attend. We always think we have more time.

In addition to information on the St. Joseph Mercy Health website, Jeff's company, Datanational, is in the process of developing a website on his behalf. When it is up and running, I will post the link for you to learn more about him, his foundation, esophageal cancer, and what you can do. The goal is to make people as aware of this cancer as they are with breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and so on. The goal is to create a movement and encourage people to get the proper screening, support research efforts, and in the end save lives. The goal, even in these hard times, is to raise money for this cause. I've talked about the "power of one" before and even the power of one dollar can make a difference. The power of sharing this video and information with one person could make a huge difference. We all know someone we joke about that keeps a bottle of Tums on their desk and pops them like candy. Sadly, however, this could be a symptom just screaming at them to see a doctor. 

In the meantime, you can view Jeff's documentary at the following link on St. Joe's home page at http://www.sjmercyhealth.org/default.cfm. Near the top right underneath "Videos" click on "Jeff Stemberger Journey". Once the black screen comes up, you can click on play to start viewing the video as it downloads. 

I promise you, you will be moved and you will learn something new and you will learn something important. You may even save a life.