I can no longer lay claim to not having a personal experience with blood cancers. It's starting to get personal now. My son-in-law's father Mike was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia and I've learned that my cousin PJ was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma seven years ago.
Hairy cell leukemia is one of the rarer leukemias and is curable in most patients. It's a form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and is a slow growing blood cancer, starting in the bone marrow. There are between 500-800 cases of hairy cell leukemia a year. Mike is one of those statistics this year. I'm sure he'd much rather be counted as a retiree with a hot sports car, if he had to be counted and knowing Mike, he'd rather not be counted at all.
On the other hand, PJ is in a much bigger group of folks. In 2010 alone, there were over 600,00 people living with lymphoma or in remission and almost 475,000 of those folks with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
PJ has benefitted greatly from Bexxar, a lab produced protein that targets antigens in the cancer cell's surface to interfere with and destroy the cells. It's kind of like the Search and Destroy treatment. (Cue the Metallica).
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, together with other agencies, funds research that can help change the lives of people like Mike & PJ.
They also provide:
co-pay assistance http://www.lls.org/#/diseaseinformation/getinformationsupport/financialmatters/copayassistance/,
education
http://www.lls.org/#/diseaseinformation/getinformationsupport/patienteducation/
and support for patients and their families http://www.lls.org/#/diseaseinformation/getinformationsupport/supportgroups/
And so I run.
No comments:
Post a Comment