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Chicago, IL. University of Chicago Cancer Center lung cancer survivor Diane Spry will represent Team Draft at Soldier Field on Sunday. Diane and her husband will watch the Chicago Bears take on the Philadelphia Eagles during week of the NFL Playoffs. In 2014, Diane Spry’s life was going great. She had a job she loved working in business development at a Ford dealership, and she was enjoying spending more and more time with her boyfriend, Robert. When she developed a cough that lingered for close to a month, she didn’t think much of it, let alone guess that she was already fighting lung cancer One Sunday evening, however, she and Robert were en route to a party when Diane realized that, for the first time in her life, she was wheezing and, perhaps more concerning, she had a deep pain in her upper left chest. Robert and Diane decided to forgo the party and made a visit the ER instead. While at the hospital, Diane learned that she had a blood clot, a pulmonary embolism in her right lung, and a mass on her left lung. She was admitted, underwent a bronchoscopy that Wednesday, and received her diagnosis on Friday: stage 3b non small cell adenocarcinoma. Diane was just 30 years old, had never smoked, and had no history of lung cancer in her family. Read More I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at 30 years old. I am now 35 and surviving! ~ Diane Spry In 2012, we launched our inaugural Team Draft Survivor Series initiative on CNN during a nationally-televised prime time special focusing on lung cancer and our National Campaign to Change the Face of Lung Cancer. Our Survivor at Every Stadium, leverages our connections with the NFL, its teams and players with our relationships with many of the top cancer centers in the country. As a part of our International Campaign, the games allow us to celebrate our survivors, raise awareness, and give hope to those battling the disease, as well as shine a light on the important work being done at cancer research and treatment centers around the country. Team Draft’s goals are to create a unique experience for participating survivors and to raise awareness on a local, national, and international level by using each game and each survivor’s story to weave a broader narrative about the state of cancer and the hope that now exists for those battling the disease. “It is an honor to have been chosen to represent #teamdraft at this weekends Bears playoff game against the Eagles. We will #changethefaceoflungcancer! Thank you Team Draft, Chris Draft and the Chicago Bears!” ~ Diane Spry Team Draft’s fifth annual Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge kicked off on November 1, 2018. This unique fund raising challenge gives lung cancer survivors the opportunity to raise funds for public awareness and cutting-edge research that is giving new hope to those battling this often misunderstood disease. The top three fundraisers, Patty Watkins, Gina Hollenbeck and Jeff Meckstroth were announced on December 31, 2018, and they have earn trips to Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta, GA, the 2019 NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando, FL and the Taste of the NFL in Atlanta, GA. The survivors have an opportunity to share their powerful stories with key individuals with influence from across the country. **The Challenge is over but the fundraising continues until the day after the Super Bowl. **The lung cancer survivors that raise over $5,000 will be able to designated a beneficiary (Cancer Center or LC Organization) that will receive 80% of their raised funds (-fees) and the remaining 20% will support Team Draft’s mission to change the face of lung cancer. Special thanks to the Chicago Bears, Astra Zeneca, the NFL and all of our Team Draft supporters for helping make this event possible. Donate now to Support the National Campaign to Change the Face of Lung Cancer!
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Awareness • Early Detection • Treatment • Research • Survivorship
