Drag Bingo Brunch Is Just Around The Corner

Lacuna Loft recently celebrated its 6 year anniversary as a nonprofit!  To celebrate, we’re hosting a Disney-themed, Drag Bingo Brunch featuring Miss Redd!  We’ve been hinting at a big reveal happening at the event, and here it is…we’re going to unveil our rebrand and new name at the event!  We’ve spent the last 9 months going through an exhaustive process and we are very excited about our new name and how it resonates with the work we do and the community we serve.  Want to be the first to know?  Grab your ticket today!

What do we mean by Drag Bingo Brunch?  A lovely drag queen, Miss Redd, will be hosting a bingo brunch with us!  We’ll have prizes, dance numbers, a costume contest, and attendees will be the very first to hear a HUGE announcement from us!

Is there a theme?  Yep!  Disney!

Do I need to dress in drag?  Nope!  Can you?  Sure!  We’ll have a costume contest though so dressing up according to our Disney theme is extremely encouraged. 😉

Who will be there?  Everyone!  Join with Lacuna Loft staff, board members, supporters, and community members!

How much does it cost?  This is a pay-as-you-can event!  While the suggested, minimum donation is $6 we totally understand that people have different financial capacities so you can join the drag bingo brunch, whether you pay $0, $6, or more!

Join us on Saturday, May 8th at 10 am PT / 12 pm CT / 1 pm ET for a 90-minute Drag Bingo Brunch.

Learn more and grab your tickets here!

Drag Bingo Brunch With Miss Redd

miss redd drag queen

Today, Lacuna Loft turns 6 years old as a nonprofit!!!  To celebrate, we’re hosting a Disney-themed, Drag Bingo Brunch featuring Miss Redd!

What do we mean by Drag Bingo Brunch?  A lovely drag queen, Miss Redd, will be hosting a bingo brunch with us!  We’ll have prizes, dance numbers, a costume contest, and attendees will be the very first to hear a HUGE announcement from us!

Is there a theme?  Yep!  Disney!

Do I need to dress in drag?  Nope!  Can you?  Sure!  We’ll have a costume contest though so dressing up according to our Disney theme is extremely encouraged. 😉

Who will be there?  Everyone!  Join with Lacuna Loft staff, board members, supporters, and community members!

How much does it cost?  This is a pay-as-you-can event!  While the suggested, minimum donation is $6 we totally understand that people have different financial capacities so you can join the drag bingo brunch, whether you pay $0, $6, or more!

Join us on Saturday, May 8th at 10 am PT / 12 pm CT / 1 pm ET for a 90-minute Drag Bingo Brunch.

Learn more and grab your tickets here!

Opening The Conversation: Join A Research Study!

Young adult survivors of breast and gynecologic cancer face a number of challenges, including interrupted life plans.  As many as two-thirds of these young survivors experience negative effects of cancer and cancer treatment on their reproductive health, including sexual function and ability to have children.  These are among the most distressing aspects of life after cancer for young survivors and their partners, and when left unaddressed, lead to poorer mental health and quality of life.  Effective communication and coping are important for couples struggling with reproductive distress after cancer.  Through their research, scientists at Oregon State University learned that many couples encounter significant challenges when faced with the reproductive and sexual health consequences of cancer.  Yet, surprisingly, evidence-based programs are not available to help young couples manage this aspect of life after cancer.

These researchers are looking to adapt an existing program so that it specifically fills this gap. To do this, they will incorporate advice from young survivors, survivors’ partners, clinicians, and researchers.  The new program will focus on fertility/family building and sexual health concerns after cancer, be tailored to meet the needs of young adult breast and gynecologic cancer survivors and their partners, include information about strategies shown to be effective to cope with reproductive health concerns after cancer, and be delivered by videoconference to reach couples living in rural and urban areas.  They will enroll 100 couples in this study to compare this newly adapted program to the original program, which focuses on managing the impact of cancer more generally. Fifty couples will be randomly assigned to receive the new program and 50 couples will receive the original program.

They evaluate whether the new program leads to greater improvements in reproductive and sexual distress than the original program. They also expect to see improvements in other aspects of relationships, sexual functioning, and well-being.  Additionally, they are interested in gaining knowledge about how the program works.  They will study possible mechanisms, including improved coping and communication between couples, using data from both survey questions and interviews.  Researchers expect this study to yield a feasible and effective program to reduce reproductive distress, which will lay the groundwork for making this program available to a wider audience in real-world settings.  In the long term, this is expected to improve equity of access to information and supportive care for young survivors and their partners.

Help create a program for young couples dealing with reproductive and sexual health concerns after cancer! Get $20 for sharing your opinions during an interview. Find out more at health.oregonstate.edu/oc

A Community Survey!

Lacuna Loft logo

We are reaching out to ask your opinion about a potential change we’re considering for Lacuna Loft. For those who may not know, “Lacuna” is defined as a blank space, an interval, or a gap…what we interpret as a hiatus of sorts. And “Loft” just seemed like a cool place to hang out. Our founder, Mallory, wanted Lacuna Loft to be a safe place where one could come and recover while learning to thrive. Where someone would want to stay a bit, hang out, and learn to live vibrantly during their hiatus.

While we love what this stands for, there have been challenges with the name. People often confuse “Lacuna” with the city name “Laguna” and believe that the organization is a physical place or retreat (“loft”). There is also some confusion when people search for “Lacuna Loft” online as there is a real estate company in Chicago named “Lacuna Lofts.” Issues like this add a level of complication by creating the need to correct, adjust, and explain the name, rather than focus on the support Lacuna Loft provides.

That said, we are considering a name change – a rebrand – that will reinforce our purpose and strengthen our ability to grow and support the community. We would not exist today if it was not for you and your involvement with us. Before we do anything, we want to know what you think!

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey to help us learn more about your experience with Lacuna Loft and your opinions and how we can evolve in a way that will continue to provide meaningful support to you.

Your responses are voluntary and will be confidential. Responses will not be identified by individual. All responses will be compiled together and analyzed as a group. If you would like to take the survey, please do so by August 15th.

 

 

Are You A YA Cancer Survivor Of Leukemia Or Lymphoma?

living room scene

Another day, another research study looking for YOU to answer their questions and help make care better for other young adults facing cancer!

The purpose of this study is to explore how a cancer diagnosis as a young adult influences quality of life, specifically looking at factors related to work and education, such as work-related goals, in addition to factors such as mood, fatigue, cognitive health, work ability, and financial health.

Participants are eligible if they are currently between the ages of 20-44 years old and were:
• diagnosed with a hematological cancer (a leukemia or lymphoma) between the ages of 20-39;
• diagnosed within the past 5 years;
• working or in school during the time of your cancer diagnosis;
• and are no longer receiving chemotherapy or radiation.

Participation in the study involves:
1) an online survey about quality of life, work-related goals, mood, fatigue, cognitive health, work ability, and financial health (approximately 30 minutes); and
2) a phone interview (approximately 45 minutes).

Following completion of the interview, participants will receive a $50.00 Amazon gift card.

Please contact Lauren Ghazal, MS, FNP-BC at lvg220@nyu.edu if you are interested in participating.

Today We Are Taking Over Elephants And Tea Instagram

elephants and tea

Lacuna Loft has been working with Elephants and Tea for a while now, first on some of their awesome content and then on a fabulous event we’ll be announcing in the next few months (eek! so excited about this!), and today we are taking over their Instagram!

We’ll be talking everything Lacuna Loft, what programs are happening this month, and what you can expect in the coming months from our online programs!  Check out Elephants and Tea’s Instagram!

Travel Scholarships To Cancer And Careers In NYC

people sitting at event

Cancer and Careers has travel scholarships available for patients, survivors and healthcare professionals to attend their 10th annual National Conference on Work & Cancer in NYC on June 19, 2020.

This free, daylong event explores the complexities of balancing treatment and recovery with employment and is open to patients, survivors, caregivers, healthcare professionals, employers/HR professionals, and anyone else touched by cancer.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with hundreds of other attendees while learning about balancing cancer and employment!

Session topics include:
Disclosure & privacy
Working through treatment
Legal issues
Career change
Managing stress
…and more!

Applications are accepted and scholarships awarded on a rolling basis.

To learn more go here.

Where We’ll Be In 2020

busy meeting

Lacuna Loft has over a dozen programs running and almost everything happens online.  That means that no matter where you live, you can join in on the great connection with other young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers that happens behind our virtual doors.  I have to say ‘almost everything’ though because we do attend in-person conferences and events throughout the year and whenever we do, it is always such a delight to meet program participants in person too!  If you are attending one of the events where we’ll be, make sure you say hi!  We’d absolutely LOVE to meet you!

This year we are attending:

March-June is conference season in the oncology world and we’ll be all over the place talking about young adult cancer survivors to anyone who will listen!

Have A Masquerade Weekend

woman holding moon

We are just so excited about our Masquerade on the Moon Gala in Chicago happening on November 2nd that we can’t stop talking about it!  (Well…that and all of our awesome programs happening too!)

Can’t make it to the Gala but loving what you experience over here at Lacuna Loft?  Throw $7 our way today and support all of the programs we run month after month for young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers!

Can make it to the Gala?  Great!  Grab your tickets and gear, don’t forget your mask, and we’ll see you on November 2nd!

2 Week Countdown Until We Masquerade In Chicago

chicago skyline

The Masquerade on the Moon Gala is only 2 weeks away!  This event, happening only once a year, is not to be missed.  We’ll have a fabulous young adult cancer survivor as our emcee for the evening (more on him in the next few weeks!), there will be a spectacular array of items for sale in our silent auction, a great variety of Lacuna Loft merch to grab, and more.

If you’re not able to join us in person, we have some great limited-edition event tees you can purchase and a chance to donate directly to Lacuna Loft.  (Plus, snag last year’s extra tees in limited numbers at a very reduced price!)

Where: 1821 W. Hubbard Street Suite 307 Chicago, IL 60622

When: Saturday, November 2, 2019 from 6-9 pm

Who: You!

Attire: Semi-Formal

We can’t wait to see you in Chicago!

Interested in sponsoring a part of the evening? Please contact mallory@lacunaloft.org for more information!