Roma, Italia – Our Final Stop

Claire and I got back into Austin late Sunday night. We left Wilson in NYC for LIVESTRONG Day. He joined Lance and Doug on Tuesday for a four-city tour of LIVESTRONG Day events across the country. They started in NYC followed by Columbus, Ohio…then off to Denver, Colorado (where they crossed paths with Beth, Jen, and Charlie) and ended the day in Las Vegas, Nevada. I haven’t heard the details yet but I’m sure it was an amazing and inspiring day.

I’m on day four of recovery from our trip and just starting to feel human again. Last night, I actually went to bed after 8pm and slept until 7pm. I woke up well rested and ready to blog about Italy. Sorry for the delay on the final post. Italy was our shortest leg of the whole trip and our schedule was nuts. We arrived around noon on Thursday after an overnight flight from Cape Town. We stopped in Johannesburg and Athens en route. That afternoon, we went out to shoot some iconic footage of Italy. Our hotel was right by the Colosseum so it was easy for us to jump out the door and start shooting. We got some great footage of the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and the beautiful streets of Rome. We had blue skies and sunshine.

On Friday, we spent the morning at Fatebenefratelli General Hospital. This place was absolutely gorgeous. The hospital resides in a beautiful old building on a little island. There was amazing light in all of the patient rooms and a beautiful outdoor courtyard complete with a fountain and turtles. We interviewed Dr. Vittorina Zagonel, the head of oncology, in the courtyard. They’re implementing some great programs at the hospital to improve cancer patient care – one team throughout the entire treatment. We also interviewed two cancer survivors – Sally and Carlo. They were both great and very strong. One thing that came out with our survivor interviews here was the importance of being able to continue working or getting back to work as soon as possible. Sally would head back to work right after a chemo treatment. This really seemed to give her strength and help her maintain some sense of normalcy. 

From the hospital, we went to AiMAC, the Italian Association for Cancer Patients. They’re a great patient advocacy organization lead by Dr. Franceso De Lorenzo. Dr. De Lorenzo is a cancer survivor himself and sadly lost his wife and both parents to cancer. Through his experience and frustration as a cancer patient, he created AiMAC. He told us that, in Italy, cancer patients feel very cared for in the hospital and during their treatment but feel very abandoned once they’re done. This is also something we hear very often in speaking to cancer survivors in the US. So, AiMAC was created to step in. They have amazing resources – informational brochures and pamphlets, a helpline, and work tirelessly to pass laws that support the rights of cancer patients. They recently passed some legislation to protect jobs of cancer patients as well as those of their families (so they could take time off care for/support the cancer patient). Pretty amazing work! 

On Saturday, we ran all over the streets of Rome interviewing people about the perception of cancer. We interviewed 21 people, many of whom had been touched by cancer. Here are some photos of the people we met in Italy.

Dr. Elisabetta Iannelli

Dr. De Lorenzo

Sally

Spanish Steps

Colosseum

Carlo

Trevi Fountain

MOS

Dr. Vittorina Zagonel

So, now I’m back in Austin and processing this amazing adventure and experience. Luckily, we have it all on film and will get to relive it as we start editing and reading the transcripts from all of our interviews. Thanks for joining us on this fantastic, life-changing journey.

Three Days in South Africa

It’s our last night in South Africa. I have to say that I’ll be sad to leave tomorrow. This city is amazing – so much texture, culture, history and personality, not to mention that it’s absolutely beautiful. As a quick re-cap, here’s where we’ve been and where we’re going. We started in Austin 13 days ago, flew through Dallas before arriving in Tokyo. From Japan, we had a couple hours in Singapore on the way to Trivandrum. From India, we popped into Dubai for about an hour on our journey to Cape Town. Africa is huge. That flight was about nine hours, the majority getting from the top of the country to the bottom. Tomorrow, we have a stop in Athens, Greece before arriving Rome on Thursday morning. Night flight.  Ouch. 

I think there are something like 10 official languages in South Africa. Over the last few days, we’ve done interviews in three of them – English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa. Very cool. We started on Sunday interviewing Drs. Denny and Mbatani. They are both doing amazing work in gynecology and women’s cancers at Groote Schuur Hospital, a public hospital, and set the stage for cancer in South Africa and the challenges that still face the country post-Apartheid. Their work also stretches into the townships outside of the city. More on that later. Interesting finding: Dr. Mbatani said that some people in the outlying townships and villages think cancer is caused by witchcraft.

We went back to the hospital on Monday where we spent time shadowing Drs. Denny and Mbatani seeing patients. We also interviewed two cancer survivors. They both had amazing attitudes. Wendel, our second interview, was actually waiting for his test results to come back from a recent scan. He had a really positive attitude and has been seeing excellent results from his treatment thus far. I’ve been thinking about him since we left. I so hope the good news kept coming for him. 

Today, we were all over the city and the outlying areas for our man-on-the-street interviews. We added some great folk to our team – Faghrie and Sizzy. Faghrie handled any interviews in Afrikaans and Sizzy covered Xhosa and Zulu. We started in the outskirts of Cape Town and worked our way back into the city. Our first stop was Khayelitsha. This is a huge township about 30 minutes outside of town. About one million people call it home, most moved or were pushed there as a result of Apartheid. The poverty was pretty extreme here. The majority of the homes are shacks, built from scrap materials – metal, wood, and cardboard. I noticed many of the roofs were held in place by tires or rocks. You can sort of see the structures from the photo I took of Wilson and Faghrie filming on the overpass. Faghrie told us that these shacks are often built overnight and can house entire families. They’re maybe 6′ x 6′ in size, most without running water or electricity.  

Before starting our MOS interviews, we visited a clinic that serves women in the area in hopes of providing early detection for cervical cancer. This is an extension of Dr. Denny’s work at Groote Schuur. She founded this clinic about 12 years ago and sees patients there two afternoons a week. The clinic is actually housed in several old shipping containers. They’ve made them very comfortable, complete with an inviting garden. A team of about 10 women makes their way into the township on a regular basis to recruit women for their program. After spending an hour or so at the clinic, we moved into the town center for some man-on-the-street interviews. 

After a quick stop in Mitchell’s Plain (another township outside of the city), we were back in the city center of Cape Town where we wrapped up our day. Since a lot of people speak English, I was out there approaching (read hustling/stalking) the lovely citizens of this town to give us five minutes. That was hard work, especially tough to get a “no” after explaining to someone for a block what we were doing and why it’s important. Nonetheless, people were very willing to talk to us overall and we got some great responses. Our South Africa tally for interviews is about 25 people – healthcare providers, cancer survivors, and man-on-the-street folks.

Here are some photos from our last few days in the city. We leave tomorrow for Italy, the last leg of our trip before heading back to Austin on Sunday. 

Wendel

Dr. Lynette Denny

Charlene

Claire & Wilson

Wilson Making Pretty Pictures

Khayelitsha Overpass

Khayelitsha Fruit Stand

Patricia

South Africa Crew

Mitchell’s Plain MOS

Dr. Nomonde Mbatani

Signal Hill

Itinerary

Khayelitsha Clinic

Last Day in India

Sorry for the lapse in postings. The jetlag is starting to catch up with me. Alas, we’ve been in South Africa since Saturday. But before I share stories from our visit here, I’ll fill you in on our last day in India. I think I mentioned the political strike that was scheduled for last Friday in Kerala. To play it safe, we decided to stay close to home to survey the situation. We interviewed Raj in the morning at our B&B as he lived right next door. Then, in the late afternoon, we ventured out to visit a hospice with Raj. The streets were totally dead – in an eery way, quite a difference from the hustle and bustle of a normal day. Usually, there are wall-to-wall cars and people heading in all directions supported by a symphony of horns. People honk all the time in India – not so much much in an obnoxious way but more of “Hey, I’m here.” Anyway, on our way to the hospice, there were probably five other cars on the road and a handful of people.  

The hospice works with Pallium India to provide care and housing for people in need. It was a beautiful place, on a hill overlooking the jungle. This hospice, unlike those in the US, function in multiple ways. They serve people who are homeless or ill in addition to caring for those nearing the end of the life. The people that worked there were amazing. There is one nun who handles almost everything with the support of a few people. Raj makes his way out there occasionally to provide additional support. On the way back into town, the city was back to its old self – pulsing energy. As far as we know, there were no incidents from the strike. Everything seemed back to normal – all safe and sound.

Here are a few pictures from our last day in India. You’ll notice that we left in the middle of the night. We had to leave for the airport at 3am to catch our 4:45am flight. I thought for sure the airport would be a ghost town that early. Not so much. Like the rest of India, it was bustling at all hours. We barely got onto our flight. By the time we made it to the gate to check in, there were only three seats left. Phew! That definitely woke us up.

Raj’s Interview

Early Departure for SA

Hospice Team

Dr. Rajagopal

Thursday in India

Today made the challenges and nail-biting of getting our Indian visas to enter this country all worth it. It was heart-wrenching, inspirational, and really, really sweaty. I knew before we left Austin that this would probably be our most difficult day emotionally (at least for me). We spent the bulk of it with the folks from Pallium India. We started at their outpatient clinic in Muttacaud, interviewing several cancer survivors onsite before joining the team for two home visits. Their home visit team includes about ten people – a doctor, two nurses and six to seven volunteers from the community – serving patients who are either too ill to come to clinic or don’t have the financial resources. 

This program is absolutely amazing. The people running it are phenomenal and the cancer survivors they serve are so inspiring. The doctor visits the patient once a week, the nurses twice a week, and the volunteers try to stop by and check on them every day. They believe that everyone has a right to live pain free – whether undergoing treatment or nearing the end of life. They also offer emotional and financial support. While all of the stories we heard today were amazing, I was most moved by Mr. Binu. He is 32 years old and has a beautiful family – three small children and a wife. 

Mr. Binu

Mr. Binu’s Son

When he was diagnosed, the doctor told him there was no cure for his cancer. His family was shattered – afraid to lose a husband, a father, a loved one but also afraid of an uncertain future as he’s the sole breadwinner. Even with his diagnosis, he’s done everything in his power to put his family at ease. He stays bold and happy to keep their spirits up. He doesn’t tell his wife when he’s in pain as not to worry her. He just wants to be strong for them, sacrificing his own needs for those of his wife, two daughters, and son. Palliative India has been a huge part of his attitude as well. He said that, in addition to the medicine and treatment they provide, they give him courage.

Mr. Binu exuded peace and strength. Before I even knew what he was saying, I was moved to tears by his amazing energy and positive attitude. With every answer to our questions, there was a smile on his face. I will not forget Mr. Binu. His story will serve as an inspiration to me for years to come and will most definitely help me keep things in perspective.