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I am a retired clergyman. During my years in ministry I counseled and consoled many people whose lives were touched by cancer. But suddenly, I was confronted with the disease in my own life.
My wife was diagnosed with a cancer so rare that it took more than ten days to finally discover its type. Now we were the ones that sought comfort and consolation and, above all, information.
Information was not readily available to us. This was before the days of the Internet, so information had to be pieced together slowly, painfully, and from a multitude of sources, not all of them accurate.
Thankfully we were led to a doctor and a hospital that has given my wife more than ten years of cancer free life.
Today, there is a surfeit of information available, not all of it accurate, not all of it understandable to the average person confronted with the terrifying diagnosis of cancer.
Sadly, one of our founding colleagues, whose vision inspired us to work together, succumbed to cancer as we were forming the organization.
It was for that reason that a number of us, all touched by cancer, all having experienced the stages of shock and fear and hopelessness that accompany this disease, formed American Cancer Educational Services (ACES) and our fund raising arm the American Cancer Fund (ACF) to provide up-to-date information in clear, concise and understandable language that will provide information and comfort to any who visit it. |