the passing of Marion Schwartz

Hi everyone,

Here is a piece on Marion and her amazing work as an advocate for all of us, from the New York Times.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=marion-schwartz&pid=189808263

Reminder – if you would like to contribute a testimonial for the tribute the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation is assembling in honor of Marion, please send your input to Jordan.Giles@cholangiocarcinoma.org by tomorrow.

Regards, Mary

I am tearing up as I am reading this and now I have my answer of why Marion never replied to my last email. I had a bad feeling and she has been in my mind lately.

Marion was an literally an angel here on earth when I was taking care of my father who was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma. She was fundamental in teaching me about all the terms and all the logistics that one needs to now with this stupid disease. She was there to console me when we had an aborted surgery and when my father finally made his transition.

I really hate cancer and everything related to it, but I know that all of us are better caregivers because of visionary people like Marion and the founders of this foundation. In her memory and in the memory of all the loved ones that have passed lets keep being vocal. I don’t know which mountain top I need to get on to scream for better and early screening methods, for complementary and alternative treatments, and for more research on Cholangiocarcinoma since there seems not to be not that many targeted treatments.

So lets continue Marions legacy of advocating each other and lets keep hiking and screaming from those mountain tops so healthcare providers and pharmaceutical hear us loud and clear that we need better Cholangio screens and treatments.

Marion was such an amazing advocate and she made a positive impact on so many lives. I am grateful for her generosity.

To our Cholangiocarcinoma community,

We were just heartbroken to hear of our dear Marion’s passing.  When Mike was first diagnosed in late 2014, Marion reached out to us with encouragement. She guided us to the Foundation’s “Newly Diagnosed” page and the list of top CC treatment centers.  When we waivered about leaving our local community doctors, Marion, in her characteristic diplomatic yet urgent manor, convinced us to get expert second opinions.   This action ultimately led to life saving, curative surgery for Mike.

Over time, we got to know Marion better, and we were proud to call her our friend.  In the nearly ten years that she supported the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, the last seven as Chief Advocacy Officer, she has supported countless patients and caregivers on this discussion board with encouragement, spot-on advise, and ideas on where to get information outside her vast range of knowledge.  Marion knew everyone in our Stakeholders community – the doctors, nurses, researchers, and so many of the patients and caregivers.  She was a powerful force of nature, and thousands of us have benefitted from our connection to her.

It is a sad irony that, after advocating for our foundation and helping so many of our patients, she should succumb to cancer herself. As we all know too well, though, cancer doesn’t discriminate.

In the eleven years since Marion lost her husband, Bruce, to CC, our community’s knowledge and treatment tools have advanced considerably, with many more long term survivors now. Marion was an important contributor to this progress.  Our hope is that her memory and legacy inspires us all to keep raising awareness and raising funds for research so that soon this rare cancer becomes a highly curable cancer.

Debbie and Mike Lax

Marion was so supportive and helpful to me when I lost my husband to CC years ago.  She was a wonderful woman with a heart of gold.  She will be greatly missed.