Cancer Inspires Mission to Help Others And Improve Healthcare

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:18 — 43.8MB)

There is nothing like a personal connection to cancer to inspire and motivate. You’ve heard the story a hundred times, experienced it myself and each time it is different. The story goes soemthing like, this; a family member becomes ill with a diease, one that impacts many, and dramatically changes the direction you take in life.

The interesting angle in this story is it connects Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 5 to India. The world is getting smaller by the minute. In 2008, Gangadhar Sulkunte was touched by lymphoma, cancer of the lymphnodes, when his father was diagnosised the with diease. Sulkunte’s father is from India and was living there when he was diagnosed, Gangadhar Sulkunte lives in the US. The logistics created an international health care information exchange and treatment being done across the globe, an increasingly common event in the networked world. His father would show doctors and other patients about information he gained from the web which further increased the connectedness of this community.

As a result of his father’s experience with the treatment of lymphoma and the grief of his father’s passing two years ago, the entrepentuer and IT project manager side of Sulkunte became inspired. He plugged into the Lymphoma Research Foundation and dedicated his energies to raising money for Lymphomathon, a non-copetitive 5K walk around Lake Nokomis June 5. According to their website “The walk is in honor and in memory of those whose lives have been touched by lymphoma. Funds raised by participants will support the Foundation’s mission of eradicating lymphoma and serving those touched by this disease.”

Sulkunte has a large goal of raising $25,000 and a long way to go to get there so incentives and social media is his path. To help reach his goal, he is holding a raffle among those who donate $25 or more. They will be entered into a raffle for an ipod touch. He even rewards those who are short on cash but are able to spread the link love on Twitter. Those who tweet #curelymphoma and URL http://bit.ly/curelymphoma are entered into a raffle to win an ipod Shuffle. That’s impressive!

On to the entrepeneur aspect of Sulkunte’s life turn. He created hlogapp, an iPhone application to help individuals record health data, and daily activities that impact health care such as exercise and nutrition. The result, when the data is entered regularly, is a more comprehensive view of a person’s activites as it potentially relates to their health. This active participation is becoming known as the quantified self a state of being more aware of your activities and the world around you.

We discuss in the podcast some of the advantages of being in tune with your daily routines and recording them. When you see a single data point, say a cough or an itching sensation, you think nothing of it. If however, you record it, and reflect on the data, then over time you may see a pattern that has medical implications. Sulkunte’s belief is that these patterns are a key to knowledge and early signs of health maintenance.

All in medicine agree that early detection is a major factor for cancer survival. The Hlogapp is availale from Sulkunte’s company 4th Main Software on the iPhone App Store.

Perhaps this work and others like it will create a healthier society which in itself is a reinforcing community that is more atuned to its surroundings and each other.

Thanks to Ward Tongen, a health care marketing consultant for introducing me to Gangadhar and dedicating his talents to assisting the Hlog App project.

Tagged as: health related fundraising, Lymphoma Research, Mobile Health Applications