Family's Cancer Fight a Gift to Those Searching for a Cure

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Linda Gannon got an unusual gift for Christmas last year: a certificate and a promise that her family would start a foundation in her name to fund research for curing the rare form of cancer that she has.

The 52-year-old has adrenal cancer, an aggressive disease that affects her adrenal glands. Only about one person in a million suffers from adrenal cancer, according to Michele Gannon, Linda Gannon's daughter and the 25-year-old president of the ACC C.U.R.E. Foundation, which was formed in Gannon's name.

Gannon, a lifelong Montville resident, was diagnosed in February of 2009 after she went to the doctor for having flank pain in her side. As a precaution, her primary care physician sent her for an ultrasound, at which point doctors discovered a tumor that was blocking them from viewing her kidney.

"It was just fortunate for me that he acted on that right away. It could have been a lot worse," she said.

Gannon began to see doctors at the University of Michigan Medical Center, a primary research institute for adrenal cancer. There, she was prescribed one of the only drugs approved by the Federal Drug Administration for her disease. She took the medication for about three years and also had one of her adrenal glands removed.

Now, Gannon is doing much better and is confident she will be alright.

"I just feel so fortunate," she said. "My doctor gave me the news that he thinks I will be fine. I just told him I wanted to do whatever I could to make a difference for somebody else and my family knew that."

Her family put into action a promise they made to her that they would help others be able to receive the care at the University of Michigan Medical Center that she had. Last summer, they formed the ACC C.U.R.E Foundation, led by Michele Gannon and run with help from Gannon's entire family.

"It was really a conjoined effort-me and my dad and my brother," Michele Gannon said.

The foundation even held its inaugural fundraising event last month. Originally, the fundraiser, a 5K run called "Run 4 a Cure," was scheduled to be hosted Nov. 4, but Michele Gannon said the event had to be canceled as the area was still reeling from Superstorm Sandy. The event was instead held on April 28 and all proceeds went to the foundation.

Michele Gannon said events like this are important to help raise money for a cause, particularly the disease ACC C.U.R.E. is fighting.

"Because nobody knows about it, there's not a lot of funding out there for it," she said.

She said the foundation is hoping to help support the researchers at the University of Michigan who are experimenting with treatments for the disease. While the university departments will apply for grant funding as well, Gannon said private assistance is needed to move research along more quickly.

Linda Gannon said it is comforting to gather with others who have had or are still fighting the disease to offer support. 

"We've come to find other people that have the same rare cancer and we've found a group of people and we have now a bond with these people," she said. "It's just so heartwarming to get together and talk and they know exactly what you're going through."

To learn more about the organization, visit the ACC C.U.R.E. website here.