March dinner

The next Mom Melee dinner is Wednesday, March 14th at 7:00 pm.  Look for the group of hot mommas at the long table up top.  

Fat Daddy's
6201 Glenwood Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27612

November Dinner

Fat Daddy's! Wednesday, November 9th! 7:00!

Look for the good lookin' mommas shoveling burgers into their mouths.

Next Mom Melee Dinner- September 14th!

Time again to come on out and stuff yourselves senseless at Fat Daddy's on Glenwood. We'll be at the table with the red balloon at 7:00 pm. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, July 13th. The day of the Fat Daddy.

Okay Mom's, girdle up and come out to Glenwood Avenue's best condiment bar. We seem to have found a good spot to eat, drink and shoot whatever comes out of our mouths. Click here for directions, we hope to see you all at 7pm in t-minus 2 days...look for the red balloon at the table!

Gina Stinnett

Gwyn was diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor stage II FH at the age of 12 months. She underwent surgery at UNC, where Dr. Weiner successfully removed the cancerous kidney and placed a single lumen Broviac. Gwyn's oncologist, Dr. Blatt, gave her a 22 week chemotherapy protocol, consisting of Vincristine and Actinomycin-D/a.k.a. Dactinomycin.

 Gwyn completed chemo on Thanksgiving 2009 and is currently 1.5 years off treatment/no evidence of disease.

Click here to read her CaringBridge journey and rantings by the likes of me.

As for me...I am a stay at home mama, working on getting my paintbrushes wet again. Time to paint my way out of the last two years of cancer and into awareness. In my previous life, I created custom works of art for a paycheck, but that got suppressed when more important "things" came about. With a little self therapy and some creative advertising, I plan on painting and selling canvases to raise research money to cure childhood cancer. I'll start by hiking in October for the CureSearch Ultimate Hike.

Christy Griffith

Hi, my name is Eve's mom.

Eve was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms tumor (kidney cancer) in October 2009, right after her second birthday. She was treated at Duke. Her hem-onc team was Drs. Dan Wechsler and Jessica Heath, rad-onc was Dr. Nicole Larrier, and surgeon was Dr. Jeff Hoehner.

Eve had vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin as well as radiation. She had her right kidney removed and part of her left.

She finished treatment in May 2010 and her current scans show no evidence of disease.

(If you want the long-winded version of her story, you can click here.)

As for me, I've become very involved in CureSearch. I chaired our first Triangle CureSearch Walk in February 2011 and have traveled to DC to meet with our Reps and Senators to ask them to fund childhood cancer research. Some of us have decided we're just crazy enough to try hiking 28.3 miles in CureSearch's Ultimate Hike. We love St. Baldrick's, too; my son and husband shaved their heads this past spring.

I am the one at dinner who will order the most unhealthy thing on the menu, but it's ok because I'm wearing a girdle.

Welcome to the Mom Melee

Melee (pronounced /ˈmeɪleɪ/, from the French mêlée (the French spelling is also quite frequent in English writing), pronounced: [mɛle]), or sometimes referred to as "brawl", generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Your kid has cancer? Your kid had cancer? Whether your child is in-treatment, a survivor, or has passed away, we invite YOU to join the Mom Melee. Because there are some things that you can only tell to another cancer mom.

We will be meeting the second Wednesday of every other month for dinner to socialize, provide support, and discuss childhood cancer events in the Triangle, NC area.

Our first dinner will be at Fat Daddy's, 6201 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, NC 27612 on Wednesday, May 4th at 7:00 pm. If you are interested in coming, leave a comment on this post or on the Facebook wall of Mom Melee.

Please help us spread the word...encourage your cancer mommy friends to join the Mom Melee!