Recently, Seas It had the pleasure of working with Kathy, a breast and lung cancer patient and overall badass, who used her Seas It grant to get back out on the trails and start exercising again in the fresh open air of North Carolina. With help from our good friends at The Peddler in Long Branch, NJ we were able to get Kathy an awesome Specialized Cyclocross Bike.

As a someone who practiced yoga intensively while my husband, Todd, endured his 8 year long battle against cancer, I always have a sense of connection to the Grant Recipients who request yoga classes.

We wanted to give a shout out to Melissa, an incredible mother who is battling breast cancer. Melissa was staying at Mary’s Place by the Sea, a respite home from women receiving treatment for cancer, when she first learned of Seas It and our Grant Program. Shortly after returning from her restorative visit to Mary’s Place, we received Melissa’s grant application. Melissa was eager to stay active and positive during her treatments but wasn’t sure which activity would be best for her.

Since November is National Caregivers Month, we thought it would be nice to share Justin’s recent Seas It Caregiver Grant. We met Justin through his fiancée, Remi. Remi has been battling Glioblastoma Multiforme but hasn’t let her brain tumor get in the way of staying active. Over the summer with her Seas It Grant, Remi learned to swim and had a blast.

Kelly, a young woman from Maine battling Breast Cancer, applied for a Seas It Grant with a specific goal in mind. She was hoping to train and build up strength and endurance so that her chemo and radiation treatments wouldn’t stand in the way of her upcoming 5k run. Seas It provided Kelly with a family membership to her local YMCA. We were delighted when Kelly wrote us after completing her 5k:

Last fall, Amanda had the pleasure of meeting Jackie, a young New Yorker battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, at a conference for young adults organized by the good folks at Stupid Cancer.

Amanda, a young woman from New York City battling Stage IV Melanoma, was interested in learning how to incorporate nutrition and positivity into her intense treatment plan. Thanks to a wonderful partnership with Kayleigh Pleas, Seas It was able to provide Amanda with a six-week enrollment into Kayleigh’s Positive Psychology Coaching Classes. Amanda had an amazing experience attending the course and shared her grant experience with Seas It:

Today we had the pleasure of delivering two bikes to Ava, a young woman battling Stage IV T Cell Lymphoma. Ava and her father applied for a Patient & Caregiver Grant in order to stay as active as possible before her upcoming transplant. Ava’s oncology and physical therapy teams at Sloan Kettering highly recommended biking as a great place for Ava to start. We couldn’t agree more!

Janet, a native of Southern California, has been battling Stage 2 Astrocytoma Brain Cancer for four years. With encouragement from her oncology team at Cedar-Sinai, Janet applied for a Patient Grant. Building up her balance and core strength was crucial to Janet. We decided that Pilates would be the best fit for Janet. Thanks to the wonderful people at Seven Oaks Physical Therapy & Fitness Center, we were able to maximize Janet’s grants by providing private Pilates classes for her. She loves the classes http://buylexaprousa.com and her teacher Jackie. Kudos to Janet for choosing to embrace wellness over illness!

As the Director of Seas It, I have had the opportunity over the past 10 years to connect with cancer patients and caregivers from all over the country. Recently, I connected with Remi, a young woman battling brain cancer. Both in person and over the phone, I found Remi’s resolve and positive outlook very reminiscent of my late husband’s. I was very touched that Remi shared her thoughts with us on her journey thus far:

It’s not often that our Seas It team gets to meet grant recipients in person. Amanda was lucky enough to meet Marie, a young mother of 4 children and Stage IV Pancreatic cancer patient, this summer. What struck Amanda the first time she met Marie was her positivity and warm smile. Marie was first diagnosed in 2013 and faced her second bout in 2014. Yes, Marie has cancer. But, cancer certainly hasn’t defined Marie or held her back from embracing life.

Almost two years ago, Seas It received a Patient & Caregiver Grant application from Kellie, a young woman battling Stage 3 Colon Cancer. We worked on fulfilling Kellie’s grant but before we could complete it, she let us know the grant would have to be postponed until she felt strong enough to exercise and had more time to recover from her intensive surgeries.