Help us make Sarcoma Awareness Month official!

By Suzie Siegel

The campaign to ask Congress to name July as Sarcoma Awareness Month has started early this year, and we already have bipartisan support. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-WI-7, introduced House Resolution 188 on March 7 with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-TX-18, as cosponsor.

Please ask your House representative to join as a cosponsor. We have a real chance of passing this resolution if we all work together! You can find out who your representative is at this website. You may have to email, write a letter AND call. Remember, it's OK to nag someone for a good cause!

Here's what the resolution says:

Expressing support for designation of July as National Sarcoma Awareness Month.

Whereas sarcoma is a cancer of connective tissues, such as nerves, muscles, joints, fat, bones, and blood vessels, and it can arise anywhere in the body;

Whereas 15,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with sarcoma last year, more than 6,000 died, and 50,000 are struggling with the disease at any one time;

Whereas 1 percent of cancers diagnosed in adults and 20 percent of cancers diagnosed in children each year are sarcoma;

Whereas more than 50 subtypes of sarcoma have been identified;

Whereas the National Cancer Institute recognizes that sarcoma is often misdiagnosed and underreported; and

Whereas July would be an appropriate month to designate as National Sarcoma Awareness Month to raise awareness of the disease and encourage more individuals to get properly diagnosed and treated:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved,

That the House of Representatives supports the designation of National Sarcoma Awareness Month.