Last Monday’s Answer to Cancer at the Grand Harbor Golf Club was just what the late Don Casey envisioned when he and Carole Plante fashioned a fundraiser to help cancer patients suffering through their ordeals. A gorgeous day on the links was followed by a delicious sold-out dinner attended by roughly 260 supporters; the only thing missing was the ever-present smile of Casey, who passed away in December.
Wife Carole Casey picked up the standard to chair the event, but was quick to give credit to a wealth of volunteers, noting, “I have a committee that just stepped in and took over; it’s unbelievable. I thought I knew what Don did until I did it!”
She also credited the event’s success to generous sponsors, Grand Harbor and its staff, and the many attendees, adding, “What really surprises me is the number of people who come back year after year.”
Their grassroots effort had already raised and donated more than $500,000 since 2005 and this year’s event was expected to top $75,000. Casey said an Answer to Cancer Memorial Fund in Don’s honor drew more than $20,000 in donations.
“The first year the money went to the University of Virginia Research Center because didn’t know we had our own cancer center,” said Casey. “Then Don got prostate cancer and was treated here, so we’ve been donating to the cancer center ever since.”
“It has been a great ride,” said Carole Plante. “Don was just wonderful; we never heard a cross word. It was a pleasure and an honor to work with Don.”
The money has funded a variety of projects and equipment through the Indian River Medical Center Foundation to what is now the Scully-Welsh Cancer Center. The money this year will go toward the Oncology Nurse Navigator Program. Last year they funded DigniCaps, aka ice caps, which cool the hair follicles to help chemo patients keep their hair. The technology was new to Vero Beach until Answer to Cancer stepped in.
“They donated all the equipment,” said medical oncologist Dr. Stephen Patterson. “We have several women with breast cancer getting chemotherapy who are using the ice caps right now. The ice caps allow them to maintain most of their hair. They’re wildly happy with it.”
Patterson noted that they can accommodate any patient who wants it, adding, “Because of the money donated, the patients don’t need to pay out of pocket. They would have to purchase the caps anywhere else.”
Of this year’s funding recipient, Patterson explained that nurse navigators enable physicians to better interface with their patients, who understandably find it difficult to grasp the intricacies of their care.
Casey introduced Sandra Webster, a registered nurse navigator, adding, “They hold you together when you need it.”
“We are somebody that can be on the journey with you,” said Webster. “We try to find barriers to care, and then we work to eliminate those barriers. It’s a privilege to be on the journey with that patient.”
John Gammino, whose wife Pat was diagnosed with cancer recently, was among several who made a point of coming over to thank Webster, oncology nurse Tammy Jones and Ellie Candido, office coordinator/nurse tech and self-described “jack-of-all-trades.”
“It used to be three words – Answer to Cancer – and now it means something,” said Gammino. “The care that these two and others at the cancer center provide just astounds me. We’re so lucky to have them and the cancer center here in Vero Beach. I had no idea before.”
Looking at him warmheartedly as he walked away, Candido said, “We get our strength from them.”
