• laurel

    Meet Laurel

    Laurel Simer came to the 13thirty Cancer Connect Syracuse Center for a special visit earlier this month. Representing the Utica College Women’s Hockey Team, Laurel brought a generous donation raised by auctioning team jerseys as a part of their Gold Ribbon game. Read more about the fund raiser here. She also shared with us a little about her own journey with cancer.

    Meet Laurel - AYA Living with Cancer

    Laurel's Cancer Journey


    Laurel's Visit to 13thirty

     

    DIPG – A Rare Brain Cancer

    DIPG is very rare and most people had never heard of it until someone close to them was diagnosed. I think a lot of people hear about cancer and know that its bad. When you can put a face to it and show that this could happen to anyone—your friend, your coworker, your teammate– it makes it personal so it helps people learn about it more and care about it more. Some of my friends have shirts that say “DIPG Warrior Laurel” on them. Some even wear them whenever they travel somewhere, hoping that someone will ask about it so that they can tell my story and tell them about DIPG and help raise awareness that way.

    When I was playing at UC, Coach Clausen instilled in us the importance of being involved in our local community and giving back whenever and however we could. This is still a major value of the team today and I’m just so happy that they continue to spread awareness and hold this game each year.

    Why 13thirty Cancer Connect

    I learned about 13thirty from Charlie Poole and his family. He was also diagnosed with DIPG. I was finally able to meet Charlie and his parents in person in May, 2017 and it was great, they are awesome people. I hate the reason that we met, but I am very grateful that I know them. Although he has since passed away, I feel like Charlie and I shared a lot of the same feelings towards our cancer and being older than most people who get it (The typical age of children diagnosed is 5-10). We both understood the importance of raising awareness and helping out the kids however we could.

    13thirty seemed like a place that would be really beneficial for a lot of people. I actually wish that I had had something like it when I was a teenager. Charlie had also come to one of the gold ribbon games a few years ago so I thought this could be a perfect fit.

    What inspires hope in you?

    I have great friends who have been very supportive of me. Some of my close friends, they know that I still get nervous before a doctor’s appointment, I still worry about what my tests will show, but they are my rock sometimes and they are always there encouraging me when I need it. Just seeing the research that has been done recently– they have learned more in the past 5-10 years than they learned in 20 years before that. I think doctors and researchers are coming a long way, and they are making advances, and it just shows the importance of raising awareness. Because raising awareness and telling your story leads to funding, funding leads to research, and research will eventually lead to a cure.