Weei/nesn Jimmy Fund Radio-telethon

Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer David Ortiz talks about the impact being part of the Jimmy Fund has meant to him, being a mentor to any current Red Sox players, and the recent return of Mookie Betts.

Part-owner of the Celtics Steve Pagluica joins via the Harbor One Hotline to talk about the Shamrock Foundation's contributions to the Jimmy Fund and the looming extension for Jayson Tatum on top of Jaylen Brown's.

Bryan was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in April 2022. He wascomplaining about back pain and his skin was pale. He also suffered from chronic nose bleeds. His parents took him to the emergency room when he was having bad pain. Blood work and x-rays came back clean, but he was sent to Children's Hospital for further evaluation. MRI and further blood work revealed that he had leukemia. His treatment includes chemotherapy and he is slated to be done with active treatment inMay 2024. ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer. It most often occurs in children ages 3 to 5 and affects slightly more boys than girls. About 3,000 people younger than age 20 are found to have ALL each year in the United States. Catherine is the program coordinator of patient and family resources at Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic.

After feeling a lump in her breast, Yesenia made an appointment to get checked by her primary care physician. She was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in January of this year. This type of breast cancer accounts for 10-15% of all breast cancer diagnoses and can be somewhat more difficult to treat. Her treatment plan has consisted of 5 months of chemotherapy starting in February, and more recently, a double mastectomy in early August. In October, she is scheduled to receive radiation treatment as well. Before coming to Dana-Farber, she met with a different doctor who gave her Dana-Farber doctor, Dr. Burstein, a great review. Yesenia checked Dr. Burstien’s reviews in the breast cancer community via Facebook groups and found that other patients thought very highly of him. She’s been pleased to be his patient and and finds it convenient to go to both the Longwood and Chestnut Hill locations. Neuroblastoma is a cancer often found in the small glands on top of the kidneys (adrenal glands), but ne

Larry Lucchino is Chairman/Principal Owner of the Worcester Red Sox and Boston Red Sox President/CEO Emeritus, and Chairman of the Jimmy Fund. Just before his 40th birthday, Larry was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Dana-Farber has helped save his life 3 times; first from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1985, second from prostate cancer in 2000, and third from cancer in the kidney area starting in 2019. Melany N. Duval has served as Senior VP and Chief Philanthropy Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund since 2019. In that period of time, Dana-Farber has embarked on its most ambitious, multi-year fundraising effort to change the future of cancer research and care – the largest in its history and the largest ever focused solely on cancer. The Dana-Farber Campaign, aims to raise upwards of $2B for the Institute’s priorities: Revolutionary Science, Extraordinary Care, Exceptional Expertise and Essential Opportunities.

When Austin switched to a new primary care doctor, his wife, Lindsay, told him to ask for everything at his first appointment, including a PSA levels check. Even though nurse practitioners don’t typically check for this at age 45, Austin requested and got it done anyway. That night, the doctor’s office called back and informed him that his PSA was off the charts. They originally thought it was high because he exercised, but after rerunning it, the results were the same. A biopsy confirmed that Austin had a rare type of prostate cancer called small-cell prostate cancer and he began to see Dr. Alicia Morgans at Dana-Farber for treatment. Small-cell prostate cancer is considered a mixed tumor, meaning surgery would not be an effective option for him. It’s like having 2 different types of cancer inside the same tumor. The small cell portion was confined to the prostate, but the other portion was starting to spread. Alicia Morgans is a Genitourinary Medical Oncologist and the Medical Director of the Survivorship P

After initially experiencing mild symptoms such as intolerance for spicy and acidic foods and abdomen soreness, Keith Johnson, a neurologist at Mass General Brigham, went to see his primary care physician when he noticed that these symptoms had worsened after a few months. He was diagnosed with stomach adenocarcinoma or stomach cancer in March 2021 and was started on a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under the care of his oncologist Dr. Ben Schlechter. Most cancers of the stomach (about 90% to 95%) are adenocarcinomas. These cancers develop from the gland cells in the innermost lining of the stomach (the mucosa). The American Cancer Society’s estimates for stomach cancer in the United States for 2023 are about 26,500 new cases of stomach cancer and about 11,130 deaths. Stomach cancer accounts for about 1.5% of all new cancers diagnosed in the US each year and the average age of people when they are diagnosed is 68, as the cancer mostly affects older people. Dr. Sc

Karen Cummings, who is retired and living in Maine, worked in Communications atDana-Farber Cancer Institute from late 1995 to early 2007. She was mainly in charge of publicity for fundraising events, mostly for the Jimmy Fund,but also for special Dana-Farber events. She knew she was in for some exciting times when her very first event to publicize was a black-tie affair with Ted Williams when he returned to Boston for the opening of the Ted Williams Tunnel. The 50th anniversary of Dana-Farber was one year before that of the Jimmy Fund, so to get up to speed, Karen spent a lot of time going through files and reading old clippings about the founding of both. This work gave her extensive background to the early times of the Jimmy Fund and a giant clue that the original Jimmy might still be alive. Karen brought the original “Jimmy” back to Dana-Farber. Karen’s son is now a patient at Dana-Farber.

Chris Sale and the Red Sox are coming off a bad-looking loss against the Astros, but Sale is thrilled to have a new day come and once again be a part of the Jimmy Fund.

Blood in her urine lead Mary to get a kidney stone scan, but incidentally revealed that she had lymphoma. She immediately called Dana-Farber and was connected with the Cancer Diagnostic Service at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, which was new at the time of her lymphoma finding in 2018. The staff there cared for and led her through an expedited process to an official diagnosis of follicular lymphoma. At the same time, Mary had been training for the 2018 Pan Mass Challenge. She started chemotherapy in the in the fall of 2018, every 3 weeks for 6 cycles, because the cancer had become more aggressive. Six weeks after the last treatment, Mary rode the 2-day Pan Mass Challenge to Provincetown and went into remission. After 3 years in remission, the cancer relapsed, and she is back in treatment as of June 2022. Now, she’s on a clinical trial and is awaiting FDA approval for the 3rd line treatment of her specific lymphoma. She feels honored to be on the trial, for herself, but also for all of the future patients

Nicole Sawyer serves as the Partnership & Licensing Manager of Mass. Bay Brewing Company, aka, the Harpoon Brewery or MBBC. Nicole graduated from James Madison University in 2012 with a degree in Communication. After graduating she worked in healthcare for 5 years. Realizing she needed a switch; she started in 2017 as a Beer Captain in the Boston Harpoon Beer Hall. Since 2017 she has had multiple roles in the company. Currently she managespartnerships, sponsorships, licensing opportunities and Harpoon Helps for the company. Harpoon Helps is Harpoon’s charitable arm of the company which has two annual events, the Harpoon 5-Miler, a run every May with 5,000 where proceeds go to the Angel Fund for ALS research, and Harpoon Dogtoberfest. Harpoon Dogtoberfest has proceeds split between the Kenary Brain Tumor Research Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as well as the MSPCA. Nicole has served for four years as the company representative for the Massachusetts Brewer’s Guild,and as a member of MBBC’s Diversity I

Brad Stevens joins Jones and Mego to talk about the Celtics' offseason that saw  Marcus Smart traded and Kristaps Porzingis acquired and how the locker room will be different with these moves.

Many know Joshua Kraft as president of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, but he’s also a survivor of prostate cancer. Kraft points to regular PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing for detecting his cancer early, at age 51; most advisory organizations recommend men receive their first PSA test around age 50. Once his primary care physician alerted Kraft to high PSA levels, he was referred to Dana-Farber. Now, he is cancer-free, with a PSA level of 0, and remains a strong advocate of prostate cancer screening to other men. He advises that early detection and removal is more important than fears of testing, digital exams, or biopsies. Today, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men, but a screening can be done at your routine physical exam.

Zachary was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma in November 2022. He was congested, but not sneezing or coughing. His adenoids were enlarged and blocking his airways. His parents took him to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor, where they found a mass that turned out to be cancerous. His treatment included 5 months of chemotherapy. He is done with active treatment now and there is no evidence of disease. Burkitt lymphoma is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is one of the most common cancers in the United States,accounting for about 4% of all cancers. American Cancer Society estimates about 80,550 people (44,880 males and 35,670 females) will be diagnosed with NHL in 2023 This includes both adults and children. NHL can occur at any age. In fact, it is one of the more common cancers among children, teens, and young adults. Still, the risk of developing NHL increases throughout life, and more than half of patients are 65 or older when they are first diagnosed.

Curt arrived in mid-2019 along with Bruce Arena as the Revolution’s Technical Director. For the last 4+ years, Onalfo has led the club’s scouting and roster management, and the club’s Pro Player Pathway – which includes the Academy and Revolution II. While Arena has been on administrative leave during the month of August, Onalfo has temporarily taken on his sporting director duties, serving as what is essentially the club’s GM through the end of this busy summer transfer window, which included the largest ever outgoing sale of an MLS goalkeeper (Djordje Petrovic to Chelsea). In 1993, at the age of 23, Onalfo was already an NCAA National Champion, was captain of a US Olympic team. Then, he found a lump in his neck. On his 24th birthday, a doctor informed him it was cancer. 6-month chemotherapy, which worked and helped eliminate his cancer, but still took a real toll on him and of course, almost ended his career.

Celeste was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in January 2023. She had a cough that her parents thought was seasonal asthma coming back. The cough never went away and it sounded different than other illnesses she had in the past. Her parents took her to an asthma specialist, where they performed an x-ray and discovered a mass in her chest. Further testing revealed Hodgkin lymphoma. Her treatment has included 6 rounds of chemotherapy and she is also in the middle of 17 rounds of radiation. She is slated to be done with treatment this summer. According to the American Cancer Society, there will be an estimated 8,830 new cases of Hodgkin lymphoma in the United States for 2023. Both children and adults can develop Hodgkin lymphoma, but it's most common in early adulthood (especially in a person’s 20s). The risk of Hodgkin lymphoma rises again in late adulthood (after age 55). Hodgkin lymphoma is rare in children younger than 5 years old. Butit's the most common cancer diagnosed in adolescents ages 15 to 19 years.

Bruins' Charlie Coyle talks about his appreciation for the Jimmy Fund growing up in the area and looks back at the team's elimination in the playoffs and if that will serve as a motivator for this upcoming season.

The team from Howes Lubricants talks about their involvement in the Jimmy Fund and share how much they have donated.

Red Sox analyst Lou Merloni expresses his favorite parts about being a part of the Jimmy Fund, but also looks at yesterday's loss from the Red Sox and if it might have broken some spirits in the clubhouse.

It was a routine life insurance exam that led to Richard Marriott’s cancer diagnosis. Tests found excess protein in his blood, and further testing revealed Mr. Marriott had IGG Kappa Myeloma. The cancer was caught very early, and he was asymptomatic. The standard of care for patients in his position at that time was watchful waiting, basically waiting to see if the cancer got worse. Fortunately, his hematologist-oncologist in Connecticut told him to ignore the standard of care and to go see Dr. Paul Richardson at Dana-Farber. Astrocytomas and gliomas are tumors that grow from brain cells called astrocytes. These tumors can often develop in the cerebellum, the cerebrum, the brainstem, the hypothalamus, or the visual pathway. These brain tumors are either classified as low-grade (grades I and II) or high-grade (grades III and IV) tumors. Children with low-grade tumors have a relatively favorable prognosis, especially when the tumors can be completely resected. Dr. Richardson is the clinical program leader and d