Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Breathing New Life in New Jeresy

September 2017 marks our first anniversary in our New Jersey house. Kurt and I were married at Cornman Farms in Dexter Michigan on Mother's Day 2017 this year. Together we are building our future full of hope and many new beginnings going forward.
       We moved to New Jersey because we were both offered advacment in our careers and several other opportunities.  My fabulous husband Kurt is the new director of clinical cancer research at Atlantic Health Systems, and is a practicing neruo-oncologist taking care of brain tumor patients.
     The photo on the top left is a picture of my New Jersey writing office in the city overlooking the sidewalk that leads to downtown Summit and to the direct train into Penn Station NYC.
      I'm so happy with the remodel of my office. Kurt and I had a fun time designing it with white window shutters that contrast the dark hard wood floors freshly painted walls and we installed  a ceiling fan. Kurt built me floor to ceiling bookcase which I immediately filled with my favorite books and things.  I'm working with a new agency to  promote my two books TURTLE SHELLS: Heading Through Cancer, and TURTLE HATCHING'S: Breathing New Life. My hope is to have a new publisher very soon and that both books will be available again with the possibility of book to movie or Broadway show.
        In other news I have taken a three-year term on the moleculor tumor board as a member of the TAPUR study (the Targeted Agent Profiling Utilization Registry) for ASCO (American Society for Clinical Oncology) their first clinical trial. ASCO is the world's leading professional organization representing physicians who take care of people with cancer. "Clinical trials are research studies that involve patients. The TAPUR trial is a clinical trial for people with later-stage cancer. The trial is focused on whether specific targeted therapies can benefit more patients and lead to more personalized therapies. This is the first of it's kind.
         I continue to run the Nicki Leach Foundation and ask for your support to help young adults with cancer by making a donation at www.nickileach.org
        This November the foundation will fully fund our endowed scholarship at UNF, the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville Florida. The foundation was responsible for $25,000 before it became fully funded, and we met our obligation. It's dissappointing that we had very little support  locally to help us reach our $25,000 goal.  It was mostly funded through a private foundation out of California. Even without the support of Nicki's home town in Ponte Vedra, and Jacksonville Florida we successfully succeeded to persevere like Nicki did and fully fund the endowment. If a local teenager or young adult should need assistnace at UNF  the Nicki Leach Foundation endowed fund is there in place to help someones college student continue their education if they were to get cancer, just like Nicki did.

Best Wishes to all!
Bunny