WHEATON,
Md., April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --
Blythe Danner has played smart,
witty roles in her long career in film, small screen and stage;
complex characters approaching a diverse set of difficulties and
life challenges. With a rich life of becoming others as an actress,
it's often forgotten that her personal life has been equally
complex, one in which the role she has lived adds dealing with
tragedy as well. In 2002, her husband, Bruce Paltrow, died at age 58 from oral cancer.
Then in a rare turn of events, Danner was diagnosed with a similar
form of oral cancer herself. That journey included treatments both
numerous, and difficult. She is in remission now.
This 25-year oral cancer journey has added a new set of roles
for Danner. These include oral cancer widow, oral cancer advocate
and spokesperson, oral cancer patron to the Oral Cancer Foundation,
Oral Cancer Foundation board member, oral cancer patient, and
ultimately oral cancer survivor. As part of her personal mission to
raise awareness about the disease, she is the keynote speaker at
this year's 10th annual DMV Oral Cancer Walk on
Saturday, April 27.
Organized by The Oral Cancer Foundation, this event won't be the
first that Danner will have attended. She became a passionate
advocate after her husband's death, which came less than three
years after his diagnosis. Surprised and devastated by this cancer
she knew little about, Danner became a determined advocate, helping
to raise money and awareness about this terrible disease in
cooperation with the Oral Cancer Foundation. As a result of early
detection, the very efforts Danner had been advocating for after
her husband passed, her own oral cancer was discovered, and
reaffirmed her commitment to the cause. For more than 20 years,
Danner has been a significant supporter of the Oral Cancer
Foundation by filming PSAs, speaking at galas, and using her
appearances on numerous TV talk shows to inform the public about
the disease.
As an honored guest at the 10th annual Oral Cancer
Foundation Walk, Danner will share her story and promote the
life-saving importance of early detection, but she says that one of
the best things about this event is getting to spend personal time
with other people who have been through the heartbreak, grief and
the hope that come in any cancer journey.
"I'm so grateful to the Oral Cancer Foundation for providing a
place for the public, medical professionals, families of those
lost, and survivors to come together and honor the incredible
strength it takes to deal with a life-altering oral cancer
diagnosis," said Blythe Danner. "And
to remember the loved ones we've lost." In keeping with the
foundation's many missions in the early discovery realm, free oral
cancer screenings will also be provided at the event to anyone in
attendance.
Participants can sign up for the walk and learn more about the
event at:
https://ocf.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=850
For more information about the interesting history behind this
event please visit:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-inception-of-the-10th-annual-dmv-oral-cancer-walk-302115576.html?tc=eml_cleartime
For more information about oral cancer, its diagnosis, and
treatment, visit the Oral Cancer Foundation's website at
www.oralcancer.org.
About the Oral Cancer Foundation
The Oral Cancer Foundation is a national public service,
IRS-registered 501(c)3 head and neck cancer charity designed to
reduce suffering and save lives through prevention, education,
research funding, advocacy, and patient support activities. Oral
and oropharyngeal cancers are the largest group of those cancers
that fall into the head and neck cancer category. Common names for
it include such things as mouth cancer, tongue cancer, tonsil
cancer, and throat cancer. Approximately 58,500 people in the US
will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2024, and one person
will die every hour of the day, 24-7-365 from it. This includes
those cancers that occur in the mouth itself (salivary gland
cancers, tongue cancers, mucosal soft tissue cancers), in the very
back of the mouth known as the oropharynx (primarily tonsil and
tonsillar crypt and base of tongue), and on the exterior lips of
the mouth. For more than a decade, there has been an annual
increase in the incidence of oral and oropharyngeal cancers. This
is expected to continue as there is no uniform national screening
policy or protocol, and the disease's risk factors remain
relatively unchanged. For more information, visit
www.oralcancer.org.
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SOURCE Oral Cancer Foundation