CNA's TV program on "A Journey of Hope"..

3 weeks ago, Dr Ang Peng Tiam's office called to asked if I would be supportive of a TV program on cancer, called "A Journey of Hope". I naturally said "Yes, of course".. anything I can do to help support such a cause, I would be more than glad to do so.

Until.. I realised that I was supposed to be one of the subjects on the TV program itself! The program was to show how ovarian cancer has impacted women in Singapore, how it is now the 4th highest cancer incidence hitting women here, and how some women, afflicted by it, had been dealing with and managing this form of cancer.

"You mean I will be filmed for it.. on camera?", I asked the good doctor.

Yes, this would be the 1st time that I would be put on film.. and on TV!

I decided that it would be a worthy cause.. sharing my story, and in a way, going public. CNA wanted to film me in natural settings, so the producer, a lovely lady called Amelia, decided that the shoots would best be taken in the childcare centre where I work, and the East Coast Park, where I spend my relaxation hours.

I sms'd Hubby to ask if he was ok with it. He replied, "Sure, so long as it doesn't impact your health"..in his usual tongue-in-cheek way.

And so, on Wedn 03 Sept, the 5th episode of "A Journey of Hope" was aired. It featured 2 other fellow ovarian cancer warriors. One as young as 18. How can this be? Why is this cancer hitting women at a younger and younger age? It just doesn't seem right that this is happening.

After watching the episode in full, I was glad I plucked up the courage to support this program. The message on ovarian cancer must be told to more women. Only with an increase in awareness, can this insidious cancer be minimized, if not stopped.

Here are a few clips of this 5th episode on "A Journey of Hope".. (this battle on ovarian cancer must start with a higher awareness, then knowledge, then courage..and then there shall be hope!)

/gleefully ntangle

Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon takes over network TV

No one does this better than the US..when it comes to raising awareness of a global campaign, there's no equal. We sat watching this amazing gathering of stars with one aim in mind..rid the world of cancer. $100m raised so far..
There's hope for us all, not just cancer patients or cancer survivors like me.. but all.

/gleefully ntangle

Stand Up to Cancer telethon takes over network TV
By SANDY COHEN – 2 days ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) —

Skateboarder Tony Hawk, actor Shemar Moore and other celebrities said they joined in a three-network cancer telethon on Friday because the disease had touched or taken the lives of loved ones.

Hawk, who lost his father to lung cancer 15 years ago and a close friend to a brain tumor last month, called the timing of the Stand Up to Cancer telethon "poetic."

"I'm here doing whatever they ask of me," he told reporters before the telethon began. "As long as I don't have to sing or dance, it's all good."

Stand Up to Cancer, a fund- and awareness-raising organization, organized the unprecedented, star-studded live telethon airing simultaneously on ABC, NBC and CBS on Friday night.

Moore, who said his uncle's wife waged a successful three-year fight against cancer, was eager to answer phones for the cause.

"I'm gonna be sweet-talking some people and trying to reach into their pockets," said Moore, who stars on CBS' "Criminal Minds."

Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland said her boyfriend's father died of cancer recently and her brother has been diagnosed with the disease. Sugarland, Melissa Etheridge and others were to close the show with a retooled version of Etheridge's "I Run for Love" — changed to "I Stand for Life."

"I hope I'm going to be able to get through it without crying," Nettles said, noting that Etheridge is a cancer survivor.

Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, whose hit "The Remedy" was inspired by a friend's battle with bone cancer, also was slated to join the star-studded finale performance.

Rehearsing with Etheridge and others "actually gave me chills," Mraz said. "Their star power is stripped away and they're just human beings today."

Casey Affleck, who was set to help answer donation calls, said he had a secret way to command more contributions.

"I'll probably tell them I'm ... someone more famous and exciting so I can get a bigger donation," he said.

America Ferrera left the "Ugly Betty" cast in New York so she could participate in the fundraiser. The Emmy nominee said she lost a beloved college professor to cancer, and that she hoped the evening would be a "hopeful" one that will inspire those facing the disease.

Hollywood producer Laura Ziskin, one of the telethon's organizers, has fought cancer since 2004. After seeing what "An Inconvenient Truth" did for environmental awareness, Ziskin wanted to make a documentary about cancer, a disease she has fought since 2004.

But, teaming up with two other prominent women, she found another approach.

Former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing, who established a namesake foundation dedicated to cancer research and awareness, was working with television networks to put on a cancer-awareness TV special. So was Katie Couric, who has been an advocate for early cancer screenings — and even televised her own colonoscopy — since losing her husband to colon cancer 10 years ago.

So the women got together — along with other entertainment-industry execs and more than 60 of their famous friends — to create Stand Up to Cancer.

"I jokingly say I have to make cancer awareness entertaining," said Ziskin, who is producing the show at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. "The good news is that the entertainment community gets it. We're touched. Look at Patrick Swayze. Look at Christina Applegate. Look at Robin Roberts.

"Cancer is not in the closet anymore, and now that it's out of the closet we have to motivate the public to demand that as a country we do better," she continued. "And if the country won't do it, we'll do it. We'll raise money ourselves and try to spend that money in a way that will lead to better, less toxic treatments that we can get to patients more quickly."

Applegate, who recently underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer, is among those set to help deliver the message Friday. She'll be joined by scores of other stars from TV, music and film, including Halle Berry, Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Jack Black, Salma Hayek, James Taylor, Carrie Underwood and Rob Lowe.

Celebrities will share their personal experiences with the disease and will help answer phone calls from donors, Ziskin said.

The hourlong show also will include a performance of "Just Stand Up," a charity song featuring Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, Rihanna, Fergie, Miley Cyrus, Underwood and others.

Couric and her fellow network news anchors, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams, are set to host the show.

The aim of Stand Up to Cancer is to raise funds for "translational research," Ziskin said, which encourages scientists to collaborate rather than compete, translating basic science into applicable therapies for patients. She compared the approach to the Manhattan project.

"We took the best and brightest and locked them up in Los Alamos and said you can't leave until you split the atom and create, unfortunately, a bomb," Ziskin said. "This is no less a problem, with half a million Americans a year dying from this disease. If we take best and brightest, encourage them and reward them for working together, the answers will come much more quickly."


Read these too:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/02/entertainment/main4407953.shtml

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5748258&page=1