Nearly 300 guests are expected to attend an event Saturday at Efeste Winery in Woodinville to raise awareness and funds for one of the most deadly forms of breast cancer.
Rachel Michaels and Eric Walter will host the event, designed to support the first annual Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day. It will be the only such event in the state of Washington.
“Sadly, my wife, Margie Walter, passed away from triple negative breast cancer in October leaving behind two young daughters,” Walter said in a news release. “Clearly, this is a cause that is near and dear to my heart and it’s now my life-long goal to raise awareness and funds for this cause so that hopefully someday no husband has to lose his wife at age 33 or that two girls under the age of 10 don’t have to lose their mother."
Triple negative breast cancer, compared to other breast cancers, tends to grow faster and is more likely to spread to other parts of the body early. Unlike other breast cancers, triple negative breast cancers lack three specific receptors, and as a result generally do not respond to existing targeted therapies commonly used to treat breast cancer. Also, it recurs more often than other subtypes of breast cancer and usually has a poorer prognosis than those breast cancers that are hormone receptor-positive. Part of the reason for this is the lack of specific, targeted treatment for this type of breast cancer.
"After losing my mother, Caroline Brown, this past November at age 60 I was shocked because she followed a healthy life style," said Michaels.
Brown was the health and wellness director for the YMCAs of Snohomish County.
"She got her mammogram every year like clockwork and after a hard fought battle was gone 15 months after her diagnosis, Michaels said. "This disease does not play fair and the traditional rules of fighting it do not apply.”
At EFESTE March 2 guests will meet and hear from women affected by Triple Negative Breast Cancer, sip EFESTE's award winning wines, enjoy hand fired pizzas and partake in a silent auction with items from generous sponsors PUR Skin Clinic, Obadiah Salon, John Howie Restaurant Group, Amy Walton Photography, Pink Marmalade as well as many others.
Local businesses Sandberg Northwest Volvo, Band of Brothers Northwest helped underwrite the event so that proceeds from ticket sales, which brought in more than $5,000 and silent auction items that have been donated to date are nearing a total value of just under $20,000, will all be donated directly to the foundation. Those who wish to make a donation to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation can do so at: https://tnbcfoundation.thankyou4caring.org/pages/donation-page---tribute-gifts
About Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation
Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation was founded in 2006 in honor of Nancy Block-Zenna, who was diagnosed at the young age of 35 with triple negative breast cancer before succumbing to the disease in 2007. In response to Nancy’s diagnosis, her friends identified a dire need to create a central source of information for this dangerous and aggressive form of breast cancer, about which little was known just a short time ago. It is the Foundation’s mission to raise awareness of triple negative breast cancer and to support scientists and researchers in their effort to determine the disease’s definitive causes, so that effective detection, diagnosis, prevention and treatment can be pursued and achieved. For more information about TNBCF, visit www.tnbcfoundation.org.
