Bay Area journalist Kevin Weston’s fight against rare cancer

 Kevin Weston doesn’t remember doctors saying he had two weeks to live. He doesn’t remember his 44th birthday. He doesn’t remember his own wedding, though he says he’s seen the photos: Weston in a white hospital gown, eyes closed, with an extremely swollen face. In some photos he has tubes and monitors attached to his…

Read More

Parents, doctors and kids celebrate the fight against pediatric cancer

Theodore "Teddy" Berger-Greer stands with family in front of Kaiser Oakland's Pediatric building.

Amidst the clamor of construction and downtown traffic Tuesday, a crowd of patients, nurses and doctors met outside of Kaiser Oakland’s pediatric building to support National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Adorned in school bus-yellow t-shirts emblazoned with “Little Kids Get Cancer, Too,” health care providers and families gathered outside the hospital’s pediatric unit in downtown…

Read More

At Children’s Hospital Oakland, the brave go bald for childhood cancer research

On Saturday, 44-year-old Irma Lira will walk onto a stage at Children’s Hospital Oakland, sit in a barber’s chair, and have her head shaved. Cheers will ring out as her thick black tresses, and her full, curled set of bangs, fall to the floor. A hat for donations will pass through the lively crowd, and people will eagerly fill it with money. And Lira won’t be alone—about 200 people will be shorn clean to benefit childhood cancer research through an organization called St. Baldrick’s.

Read More

A swim to fight cancer

Swim A Mile

The sun was shining this weekend as Swim A Mile swimmers of all ages, colors, shapes, and sizes donned swimsuits, swim caps, and goggles in rainbow colors and dove into the sparkling blue water of the pool. At the Mills College Trefethen Aquatic Center, the event arena, the large outdoor pool was able to accommodate the 400-plus participants swimming throughout the weekend.

Read More