Showing posts with label valerie smaldone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label valerie smaldone. Show all posts
Thursday, July 15, 2010
So excited!
Did an interview with the amazing Valerie Smaldone today! I'm looking forward to being a regular guest on her radio show on WOR710 talking about the celebs and their causes! I met Valerie when I interviewed her and her work on behalf of Ovarian Cancer research. Tune in!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Ray Romano's special fund-raising performance
Beloved television sitcom comedian Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond, Men of a Certain Age) takes the stage in New York City's newly renovated SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street) on Friday, May 14th to perform his Vegas-style comedy act in a rare New York appearance. The Queens-born performer will be coming back to his home town for this performance specifically for this one night only special event, to be a part of a fundraiser for ovarian cancer research.
A Ray of Hope, in its inaugural year, is an event to benefit the early detection, treatment and cure of ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic cancer, and one of the five leading causes of cancer death among women in the United States.
Each year, approximately 22,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the United States and about 15,000 American women die from the disease. These numbers are underscored by the sobering fact that currently there is no reliable screening test for the early detection of ovarian cancer. The majority of cases (81%) are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced, at which time a woman’s survival is significantly compromised.
One hundred percent of the evening’s proceeds will go through the Sass Foundation for Medical Research with monies funnelled to Mt. Sinai Hospital and NYU Langone Medical Center, to help fund research projects for ovarian cancer.
Valerie Smaldone also co-producer of the event will emcee the event. Broadway performer Craig Schulman will perform some of the best loved songs from Broadway and Jon Manfrellotti, from Men of a Certain Age, will introduce Ray and his vegas Style act.
WHEN: Friday, May 14. Doors open at 8 pm, performance begins at 9. There will also be a VIP after-party, where ticket holders will be treated to craft beers, wine and cheeses as well as Italian pastries.
WHERE: SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th
ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Merchandise available for sale, live auction of exciting products from Coach, Brooks Brothers, Bose, Tiffany & Co. as well as a condo in Naples, Florida and a trip to Vegas to see Ray Romano's show, with a Ray Romano meet and greet!
TICKETS: Tickets for A Ray of Hope starring Ray Romano range from $150-$275 and can be purchased at Theatermania.com.
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/shows/a-ray-of-hope_165888/
On the Path to Cure Ovarian Cancer starring Ray Romano was conceived by Linda John, an ovarian cancer survivor (and Ray's first cousin) after she went through treatment for the disease. John, CEO of Corporate Family Network, felt that there was not enough targeted research being done for early stage testing and wanted to be actively involved. In addition to her work with the Ovarian Cancer National Alliances's Survivors Training Program, Linda wanted to do more. She enlisted the help of media personality Valerie Smaldone, who has created events in the past for ovarian cancer awareness and funding, and had herself dealt with ovarian cancer years ago, to co-produce and emcee the event.
The Sass Foundation for Medical Research, Inc. was established in 1986 as a non-profit, non-sectarian foundation dedicated to medical research, education and patient care programs for cancer and related diseases. For more information go to www.sassfoundation.org or www.arayofhopeforovariancancer.com
Sunday, June 21, 2009
3 Doors Down, Taylor Hicks, James Frey, Allison Winn Scotch, Valerie Smaldone
On April 16th, 2009, five year old Frankie Flora was tragically and horrifically attacked by a pit bull right near my own hometown. Thankfully, Frankie survived, but he will be scarred and need many, many surgeries that insurance doesn't cover. I'm a mom of three and this story touched my heart. So, I have helped to organize a fundraiser to help cover Frankie's costs. To do this, I reached out to some awesome celebrities who have graciously helped me put together a fantastic set of raffle prizes.I wanted to thank the amazing rock group 3 Doors Down who donated an autographed drumskin and photo! Thanks to Taylor Hicks, who is sending along an autographed copy of his latest album! Best selling author James Frey sent along two autographed books, including A Million Little Pieces! Best selling author Allison Winn Scotch, author of Time of My Life, is sending along copies of her books. New York personality Valerie Smaldone has tapped into her sources for some great prizes as well! The generosity has been overwhelming and it's absolutely touching. If you are a celeb or represent a celeb and can donate a prize for our July 11th event, I'd really appreciate it. In the meantime, celebrate the amazing generosity of these celebrities and support them in what they do. They truly have a heart of gold.
Thanks,
Lisa
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Valerie Smaldone
Valerie Smaldone: NY Radio Personality and Ovarian Cancer Survivor!
When I had the chance to speak with Valerie Smaldone, a radio personality who can be heard on 106.7 Lite-FM in New York from 12 to 4 p.m. EST, she gave some eye-opening advice: “Make sure you use the good things in your life, take out the good jewelry; what are you waiting for? Tomorrow you don’t know what will happen and, to put everything in perspective, life is so fragile in so many ways.”
It’s something we’ve probably heard a million times in our lives, but how often do we put the good china aside for holiday use only, save the nice perfume for that special date or wear that cute blouse only when a special occasion comes up?
Valerie knows first-hand how fragile life can be and she’s not shy about sharing her story because she hopes that her story will save more women’s lives.
Almost six years ago, when she was 41 years old, Valerie was diagnosed with early stage one ovarian cancer. She was diagnosed in April, operated on in May, and received chemo in June.
How did you find out?
I wasn’t feeling well for quite awhile, I was in Europe, in Prague, and feeling run down and that’s not like me. I had vague pains on the left side. I’m an energetic person. A CAT scan showed a large cyst on the right side. It remained the same over the next six months, but the doctors decided to take out the cyst and when he was doing that, he saw something he didn’t like. Adjacent to the cyst there was a borderline tumor to the right ovary, so he biopsied it and it came back ‘borderline.’ Everybody was shocked when he found it. The truth is, I knew something wasn’t right, whether the cancer was causing that or a general malaise I needed answers.
That’s part of the problem, right – women don’t listen to their own bodies?
No, they don’t. They need to follow their own body and no matter what, even if doctors say that I’m young, don’t worry about it. The number one thing is that you’re your own best friend and you’re responsible for your own health – only you know what you’re feeling. Get the best doc that you can in the field that you can. You’re in partnership with the doc. I’m not saying don’t respect them, but you’re in a partnership with this team. Need to be proactive.
What happened next after you were diagnosed?
The weird thing is that my sister is an oncologist – a researcher – and she actually developed the drug that I took. When it was time to have my chemo, she said, “Valerie this is my drug, I know this drug, you’ll be fine.” She defended the drug in front of the FDA 15 to 20 years go. My sister is my mentor, she piloted me through this and I was lucky I had someone like this, but once I was released into the system and had to go for tests and chemo, I had an oncologist and a surgeon and I see both twice a year, but nobody was speaking to each other! There’s paperwork and Paperwork, bureaucracy. I needed test results and needed each of them to talk to the other and communicate it all back to my original physician who can be aware of it too and on the same page. If you leave it up to them, they are overwhelmed and there’s too much paperwork and they are human.
What can we do to fix that?
Don’t be annoyed by it, be the producer of it. Be cognizant and aware and if you’re sick and not up to it, you need someone you can count on to help you through this system, because it’s overwhelming.
Why tell your story?
Now my mission is to let people know if I can get it anyone can get it. (My boyfriend) Rick’s mom passed away from ovarian cancer on September 30 and she died within two to three years of her diagnosis. The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA http://www.ovariancancer.org/) was out of Washington and heard about me through a spokesperson thing I did. I wanted to do something, didn’t know what – but I wanted to use what I had, the airwaves, to spread awareness of OCNA, testing, doctors, etc. We did PSAs for two years and I did 15- to 30-second spots to get the message across.
What was the response to that?
I got a lot of emails. Women were very appreciative of the fact that someone was speaking about it. I read, “I had stage 3,” “My mom died of it, etc.” and everyone wanted to get the information about the disease out there. The numbers aren’t as great as breast cancer diagnosis, but half of the people who have it die – 28,000 people are diagnosed, 14,000 die – and I wanted to have women more aware that, for example, a pap test has nothing to do with ovarian cancer. I would also get responses from a younger face – we’re seeing younger and younger women diagnosed.
How are you feeling?
I feel well. My (last) test results were very good. I guess I’m considered in my remission. You don’t feel cured of cancer because it comes back so many times. I didn’t have a hysterectomy and I retained my left ovary and they removed my right – I was adamant that I wanted to retain my organs and I don’t want to give them away. The physician had my permission, if everything looked encapsulated, to take it though, but I was young. I have to be cognizant of the other ovary though.
It’s all about raising money for research. If you want to help or become more aware of ovarian cancer, visit:
the Ovarian Cancer National Foundation, http://www.ovariancancer.org/.
the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, http://www.ocrf.org/.
Some frightening statistics from the OCNF:
Ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers, is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women.
Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 68 women.
About 20,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year.
About 15,000 women in the United States die from ovarian cancer each year
Currently, 50 percent of the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer die from it within five years; among African-American women only 48 percent survive five years or more.
So, go ahead and get out the good china tonight while you're serving leftovers. I know I will.
When I had the chance to speak with Valerie Smaldone, a radio personality who can be heard on 106.7 Lite-FM in New York from 12 to 4 p.m. EST, she gave some eye-opening advice: “Make sure you use the good things in your life, take out the good jewelry; what are you waiting for? Tomorrow you don’t know what will happen and, to put everything in perspective, life is so fragile in so many ways.”
It’s something we’ve probably heard a million times in our lives, but how often do we put the good china aside for holiday use only, save the nice perfume for that special date or wear that cute blouse only when a special occasion comes up?
Valerie knows first-hand how fragile life can be and she’s not shy about sharing her story because she hopes that her story will save more women’s lives.
Almost six years ago, when she was 41 years old, Valerie was diagnosed with early stage one ovarian cancer. She was diagnosed in April, operated on in May, and received chemo in June.
How did you find out?
I wasn’t feeling well for quite awhile, I was in Europe, in Prague, and feeling run down and that’s not like me. I had vague pains on the left side. I’m an energetic person. A CAT scan showed a large cyst on the right side. It remained the same over the next six months, but the doctors decided to take out the cyst and when he was doing that, he saw something he didn’t like. Adjacent to the cyst there was a borderline tumor to the right ovary, so he biopsied it and it came back ‘borderline.’ Everybody was shocked when he found it. The truth is, I knew something wasn’t right, whether the cancer was causing that or a general malaise I needed answers.
That’s part of the problem, right – women don’t listen to their own bodies?
No, they don’t. They need to follow their own body and no matter what, even if doctors say that I’m young, don’t worry about it. The number one thing is that you’re your own best friend and you’re responsible for your own health – only you know what you’re feeling. Get the best doc that you can in the field that you can. You’re in partnership with the doc. I’m not saying don’t respect them, but you’re in a partnership with this team. Need to be proactive.
What happened next after you were diagnosed?
The weird thing is that my sister is an oncologist – a researcher – and she actually developed the drug that I took. When it was time to have my chemo, she said, “Valerie this is my drug, I know this drug, you’ll be fine.” She defended the drug in front of the FDA 15 to 20 years go. My sister is my mentor, she piloted me through this and I was lucky I had someone like this, but once I was released into the system and had to go for tests and chemo, I had an oncologist and a surgeon and I see both twice a year, but nobody was speaking to each other! There’s paperwork and Paperwork, bureaucracy. I needed test results and needed each of them to talk to the other and communicate it all back to my original physician who can be aware of it too and on the same page. If you leave it up to them, they are overwhelmed and there’s too much paperwork and they are human.
What can we do to fix that?
Don’t be annoyed by it, be the producer of it. Be cognizant and aware and if you’re sick and not up to it, you need someone you can count on to help you through this system, because it’s overwhelming.
Why tell your story?
Now my mission is to let people know if I can get it anyone can get it. (My boyfriend) Rick’s mom passed away from ovarian cancer on September 30 and she died within two to three years of her diagnosis. The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA http://www.ovariancancer.org/) was out of Washington and heard about me through a spokesperson thing I did. I wanted to do something, didn’t know what – but I wanted to use what I had, the airwaves, to spread awareness of OCNA, testing, doctors, etc. We did PSAs for two years and I did 15- to 30-second spots to get the message across.
What was the response to that?
I got a lot of emails. Women were very appreciative of the fact that someone was speaking about it. I read, “I had stage 3,” “My mom died of it, etc.” and everyone wanted to get the information about the disease out there. The numbers aren’t as great as breast cancer diagnosis, but half of the people who have it die – 28,000 people are diagnosed, 14,000 die – and I wanted to have women more aware that, for example, a pap test has nothing to do with ovarian cancer. I would also get responses from a younger face – we’re seeing younger and younger women diagnosed.
How are you feeling?
I feel well. My (last) test results were very good. I guess I’m considered in my remission. You don’t feel cured of cancer because it comes back so many times. I didn’t have a hysterectomy and I retained my left ovary and they removed my right – I was adamant that I wanted to retain my organs and I don’t want to give them away. The physician had my permission, if everything looked encapsulated, to take it though, but I was young. I have to be cognizant of the other ovary though.
It’s all about raising money for research. If you want to help or become more aware of ovarian cancer, visit:
the Ovarian Cancer National Foundation, http://www.ovariancancer.org/.
the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, http://www.ocrf.org/.
Some frightening statistics from the OCNF:
Ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers, is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women.
Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 68 women.
About 20,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year.
About 15,000 women in the United States die from ovarian cancer each year
Currently, 50 percent of the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer die from it within five years; among African-American women only 48 percent survive five years or more.
So, go ahead and get out the good china tonight while you're serving leftovers. I know I will.
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