Thursday, November 05, 2015

Helping Out One of Our Own

My good friend and Governor of Red Sox Nation for New York State, Chris Wertz, brought to my attention very worthy fundraising efforts that are being held for a member of Red Sox Nation named Sean Bunn.

Sean, who Governor of Red Sox Nation for North Carolina, is suffering from a form of cancer called Gliobastoma Multiforme. Sean's friends have held fundraisers to help him with his fight against cancer, and I am spreading the word so that fellow Red Sox fans can help, too. We wish Sean all the best and pray he beats this terrible scourge.

This is a Facebook post that went up the other day by Sean's friends, and explains how you can help:

As many of you may know, our good friend and fellow fan Sean Bunn has been battling cancer for the past several weeks. Many of you have reached out with your time and generosity to call, text, email, and support Sean in so many ways over these past few weeks and though he may not be able to respond to each one, he appreciates all of your kind words to him.

He is currently being seen by Duke battling a cancer known as Glioblastoma Multiforme, and he has had an operation already to remove a tumor the size of a baseball from his brain. It is a grade IV astrocytoma, a malignant, aggressive, and rare cancer with less than 200,000 cases in the US a year. It is not usually just a normal tumor, but it has many fingerlike tentacles that make it very difficult to remove. The tumors themselves are also very resistant to conventional therapies making it hard to treat. The brain is not able to repair itself that well, and is susceptible to damages from the conventional treatments.

The median survival for GBM is around 2-3 years with less aggressive types. Adults with more aggressive forms of the condition treated with chemo and radiation usually live around 14 months on average. However, 10% of that number do live 5 years or longer with treatment, and not only is the fantastic team at Duke fighting for Sean but a fellow member of Triangle Red Sox Nation has spent many years researching this disease and has provided Sean and his family with bountiful information and help.

Sean is currently at home with his family in Raleigh, and his family has been with him every day since his diagnosis. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy in a pill form everyday, and on Monday through Friday he does radiation treatment in Duke's Durham Hospital. He is also currently on leave from work.

He would also like to share with you all that he is having trouble seeing and speaking. He currently cannot see from the right of his nose, something that may not improve. This doesn't mean he isn't able to receive your messages of support and hope, and not only does he appreciate every one of your messages but his family does too. It truly means a lot to see the love from each and every one of you, and is a hand of support and compassion in this tough time.

Sean, his family and the doctors do not know what the future holds. Sean may be with us for just a little bit, signing a short-term contract with an Invitation to Spring Training, or he may sign a Multi-Year deal and be with the club for a long term contract. If anyone can stay positive and fight, it's our Gov'na.

A lot of you have reached out over the past few weeks and asked how you can help Sean. Here are a few ways...

First, we have a SeanStrong Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SeanStrongNC) where you can share your favorite Sean memories, send well wishes and follow all events. We'll email and post when events are but for now, put this on your calendar:

Sunday November 8th, the Triangle Red Sox Nation will be holding an event with our sister club the Triangle Patriots Fans. The Tri-Pats are hosting an event at the Backyard Bistro called the Boston Buffett Bunnraiser. The Bistro will have a buffet of Boston food favorites set up for folks to watch the Pats/Redskins game (and all the other 1pm games) with proceeds going to Sean.

Please RSVP at either the TRSN event page (www.meetup.com/triangleredsoxnation/events/226257421/) or .the Tri-Pats event page (www.meetup.com/Tri-Pats/events/222011724/). This will help us get an idea of how many folks will be coming, so please RSVP on just one or the other and not both so we don't have doubles.

EVERYONE is welcome, no matter who you cheer for, so spread the word & bring your friends! (There is also a facebook event you can share at www.facebook.com/events/997079786981814/.

Starting November 15th, we will be holding an auction where all proceeds raised will be going to Sean and his family. We’re in the final phase of getting items, so if you have access to any massages, restaurant gift certificates, photograph sessions, training sessions, golf outings, cigars, sports memorabilia, tickets...ANYTHING! Please contact me directly at soxfanbry@yahoo.com to find out more how you can help.

Some items we have so far are airline tickets, hotel and tickets to a Red Sox game in 2016, a Malcolm Butler signed football, a Big Papi signed baseball bat, a Carolina Hurricanes hockey stick signed by all the members of the 06-07 Stanley Cup team plus much, much more!

We are also gathering a list of folks to help bring food over to Sean and his family. Sean is on a strict diet that must be very low in salt and sugar. You can sign up to be on Steve Freedman’s list to do this on facebook for now at www.facebook.com/groups/1654879098115305/.

If you’d like to donate cash toward Sean’s medical bills, we have a site set up atwww.YouCaring.com/SeanStrongNC. All donations made through that site are tax deductible as we’re working with a local organization called BHM or Big Hearted Moms. 

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