Long Island Hospitals Rock Out at “Battle of the Bands”, Event Supports Programs for Stony Brook Cancer Patients
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“Prognosis,” a group from Stony Brook Medicine, won the People’s Choice Award (Photo credit: Heather Walsh) |
STONY BROOK, NY, May 2, 2016 – Stony Brook University Cancer Center hosted an event on Sunday, May 1, where five bands comprised of healthcare professionals from four Suffolk County Hospitals – Eastern Long Island Hospital, St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, Southampton Hospital and Stony Brook Medicine— battled it out, and competed for the title of ‘Docs Who Rock’.
In its second year, the “Battle of the Bands” event — the vision of a patient advocate, a nurse and doctor at Stony Brook University Cancer Center— raised nearly $8,000, all of which will help fund programs for patients on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.
“The money raised will fund electronics, entertainment, therapy programs, and in-hospital events for the patients, many of whom are being treated with chemotherapy for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma or other blood disorders,” said Maggie Knight, RN, Stony Brook University Hospital, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.
Linda Bily, patient advocate, Stony Brook Cancer Center, helped organized the event, said the patients appreciate all their efforts.
“It means so much to the patients, because they’re in the hospital the longest prepping for several weeks before their bone marrow transplant,” said Bily, “It gets boring just being in a hospital room so we try to do everything from art therapy to music therapy and we want to provide more so these fund will help.”
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“Side FX,” a group of doctors from Southampton Hospital, were crowned the winner of the evening (Photo credit: Heather Walsh) |
“Side FX,” a group of doctors from Southampton Hospital, were crowned the winner of the evening and walked away with the guitar trophy, which can be displayed in their hospital lobby for a year. “Prognosis,” a group from Stony Brook Medicine, won the People’s Choice Award. All five bands performed for about 400 people at the 89 North Music Venue in downtown Patchogue. WBAB radio host ‘Fingers’ emceed the event and food was donated by That Meetball Place and Toast Coffeehouse, also in Patchogue.
Nurses from the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Stony Brook, took swabs at the event from 40 people, who will be entered into the national bone marrow donor registry in hopes of a match for someone seeking a transplant. Every 3 minutes in the U.S., someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer. For many patients, a bone marrow transplant is the best chance for survival. While 30% of patients can find a matching donor in their families, 70%—nearly 14,000 each year—must rely on a compassionate stranger to step up and donate. Bone marrow and stem cell donation can be a life-saving treatment for blood cancer and 70 other serious illnesses of the blood.
Find more photos here:
http://tinyurl.com/jtmlr7w
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Nurses from the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Stony Brook, took swabs at the event from 40 people, who will be entered into the national bone marrow donor registry in hopes of a match for someone seeking a transplant. (Photo credit: Heather Walsh) |
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About Stony Brook University Cancer Center:
Stony Brook University Cancer Center is Suffolk County’s cancer care leader and a leader in education and research. With more than 20,000 inpatient and outpatient visits annually, the Cancer Center includes 12 multidisciplinary teams: Breast Cancer; Colorectal Cancer; Gynecologic Oncology; Head, Neck and Thyroid Oncology; Lung Cancer; Melanoma; Neurologic Oncology; Orthopaedic Oncology and Sarcoma; Pediatric Hematology/Oncology; Stem Cell Transplantation and Hematologic Malignancy; Upper Gastrointestinal Oncology; and Urologic Oncology. The cancer program is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program and received the Commission’s Outstanding Achievement Award. The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Care Center is the first center in New York State to be accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. To learn more, visit www.cancer.stonybrookmedicine.edu.
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