FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Hannah Vogler
(501)666-1990
(501)425-2626
hannahvogler@colondar.com



YOUNG COLORECTAL CANCER SURVIVOR
EDUCATES OTHERS IN UNCONVENTIONAL WAY:
TAMMY FIGG, 29, IS MISS OCTOBER IN 2005 COLONDAR


Tammy Figg was only 27 years old when she was diagnosed with stage III rectal cancer. Now 29 and cancer-free for over a year, she is going to extraordinary lengths to educate others about the disease that could have taken her life.

Tammy is featured as Miss October in the 2005 Colondar – a 12-month wall calendar of beautiful young female colorectal cancer survivors. Each month of the 2005 Colondar features a young woman along with a short biography chronicling her individual experience with colorectal cancer.

The 2005 Colondar is the newest project of The Colon Club, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating about colorectal cancer in out-of-the-box ways. Tammy first “met” Molly McMaster, co-founder of The Colon Club, when she found Molly’s website and signed the online guestbook.

“We wrote back and forth several times and, earlier this year, Molly emailed to ask if I would be interested in modeling for the Colondar,” said Tammy. “I was so excited to have the opportunity to participate in such a great project. It was a little bit strange for me to be posing in my bathing suit, but it is my hope that someone’s life will be saved because of the Colondar.”

That is the wish of all of the Colondar models. In July, Tammy came together with eleven other young survivors when they all flew to upstate New York for the 2005 Colondar photo shoot. “It was great to meet so many other young women who have been through the same thing I went through. I think we were all a little bit nervous at first, but we left feeling like we had done something that might save someone’s life.”

Tammy knows all too well the need to educate younger people about colorectal cancer. Although she had every symptom of colorectal cancer, she was not correctly diagnosed until she went to the emergency room and received a colonoscopy. At the time she was diagnosed, Tammy was just six weeks away from getting married.

Knowing that she would probably be unable to have children as a result of her radiation treatments, Tammy harvested her eggs for future in vitro fertilization. She also went on with her wedding, just four weeks after having surgery.

Today, Tammy is fighting early menopause brought on by her therapies, and she and her husband are starting a family. If Tammy is unable to conceive, a close friend is ready to step in as a surrogate mother.

Locally, Tammy is known as the Chairman of The Figg Tree Foundation, an organization that raises funds and awareness to educate about colorectal cancer at any age. Recently, the Figg Tree Foundation raised money to help build an entertainment center at Siteman Cancer Center, where Tammy received her treatment. The entertainment center is designed for patients to use while they are receiving chemotherapy treatments.

Tammy lives in St. Peters, MO with her husband. She is an avid soccer player and spends her spare time working on the Figg Tree Foundation. Tammy graduated from Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles and Benedictine College in Atchison, KS.

The price of 2005 Colondar is $15.00. Visit www.colondar.com to order your very own 2005 Colondar!



ABOUT THE FIGG TREE FOUNDATION

The Figg Tree Foundation was created by five of Tammy and Bryan Figg’s friends after Tammy was diagnosed with stage III rectal cancer. The Foundation started as a way to help the young couple prepare for the process of in vitro fertilization following Tammy’s treatment. When Tammy became well, she decided to change its mission to use the Foundation as a means to educate others about colorectal cancer and to help those who have been diagnosed.

The Foundation has had great success with their fundraising efforts, raising over $25,000 in the past two years through a golf tournament, soccer tournament, benefit dinner, and car wash. Some of those funds initially helped Tammy and Bryan. Most recently, the Figg Tree Foundation helped build an entertainment center for patients to use while receiving chemotherapy at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

Today, with two administrators and a host of volunteers, the Foundation is helping to make a difference. A second golf tournament is planned for 2005 with the hope of building more chemotherapy entertainment centers. The Foundation is also in the process of creating a grant program for those who have been diagnosed and need financial assistance.

For Tammy, starting the Foundation helped her deal with what happened after her diagnosis, and it now allows her to reach out to others. It is extremely important to Tammy that she is able to take what happened to her and use the knowledge and experience she gained to make a difference in the lives of others. The Foundation allows her to help educate others about the disease that she knew nothing about until it became a reality in her own life.

The Figg Tree Foundation is always looking for sponsors, so please contact them for more information!

The Figg Tree Foundation
PO Box 1493
St. Peters, MO 63376
(636)240-5949
www.figgtree.com