ThriveWell Cancer Foundation to receive ASTRO Survivor Circle grant

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The Texas cancer patient support organization will receive an $8,500 award

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has selected a San Antonio-based cancer patient support group, ThriveWell Cancer Foundation, to receive ASTRO’s 2015 Survivor Circle grant. The organization will receive $8,500 to recognize its efforts and provide direct support for the organization’s work assisting cancer patients and their families. The group will also be in attendance at ASTRO’s 57th Annual Meeting, October 18-21 at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio.

“ASTRO is proud to continue to sponsor the Survivor Circle Grant Program, a funding initiative that provides gifts of financial assistance to cancer support organizations in the state hosting our Annual Meeting,” said ASTRO President Bruce D. Minsky, MD, FASTRO. “ThriveWell Cancer Foundation demonstrates the tenets of the program by supporting cancer patients, their families and their caregivers from diagnosis through survivorship. ASTRO is pleased to award this group with a grant to continue its vital work in helping cancer patients in their daily lives.”

Based in San Antonio, ThriveWell Cancer Foundation’s mission is to fund cancer research, provide patient support and offer community-based programs to improve patients’ and their families’ quality of life.

The organization, which began in 2007, helps low-income cancer patients adhere to their prescribed treatment plans by providing financial and transportation support through their Patient Assistance Program. Rising medical costs have been prohibitive in the lower-income community, so the organization seeks to assist those who might not start, or might stop, critical radiation or chemotherapy treatment due to lack of funds. Thrivewell Cancer Foundation provides eligible adult cancer patients with financial assistance toward their cancer treatment. They also provide transportation assistance for cancer treatment throughout San Antonio. Their goal is to allow cancer patients to live their lives as normally and worry-free as possible.

The Patient Assistance Program looks to increase the survival rate for low-income cancer patients across the community by offering life-saving opportunities and the ability to live their lives as normally and worry-free as possible. According to Erin Ercoline, ThriveWell Cancer Foundation executive director, the grant money will be used to support this program.

“The Patient Assistance Program provides patients with financial assistance to help offset the costs associated with their medical careco-pays, etc.—as well as treatment-related transportation,” she said. “Many cancer patients in San Antonio and the surrounding communities are without a reliable means of transportation, thus making traveling to-and-from treatment appointments impossible. Additionally, the financial burden of a cancer diagnosis can be devastating. The goal of the Patient Assistance Program is to give cancer patients the best possible chance of beating the disease, while eliminating the added stressors that go hand-in-hand with a diagnosis and treatment.”

For more information about ThriveWell Cancer Foundation, visit http://thrivewell.org.

For more information about ASTRO’s 57th Annual Meeting, visit www.astro.org/AnnualMeeting. For press registration and media policies for ASTRO’s 57th Annual Meeting, visit www.astro.org/AMPress.

Erin L. Boyle
703-839-7336
erin.boyle@astro.org

ABOUT ASTRO

ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with nearly 11,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals that specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes three medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (www.redjournal.org), Practical Radiation Oncology (www.practicalradonc.org) and Advances in Radiation Oncology (www.advancesradonc.org); developed and maintains an extensive patient website, www.rtanswers.org; and created the Radiation Oncology Institute (www.roinstitute.org), a non-profit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit www.astro.org.

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