|
Lymphoma
Research Saved my Life.
In
2004, I learned that the Dallas chapter of the Lymphoma
Research Foundation (LRF) was going to host its
inaugural Lymphomathon—a 5K walk to benefit the LRF. So
I pulled together a small team and encouraged my
then-14-year-old son, Will, to participate.
I
confess to having had an ulterior motive: I was hoping to
use the event as another way to teach Will about
survivorship, the value of research, and the joy of
helping others. Will named our team Wendy’s Eagles
(WE) in honor of his Richardson High School mascot.
We had a grand time “soaring for a cure.”
The next spring, my then-17-year-old middle child, Jessie, joined us for
the second walk. The Lymphomathon became an annual event
for us.
When we signed up for the 2007 Lymphomathon,
we billed it as "Wendy's Eagles' final flight.” Will was
heading off to college soon after the walk, and I was
still dealing with chronic treatment-related energy
limitations. I couldn’t do it by myself. Wanting to go
out with a bang, WE gave it our all and raised a
whopping $15,812.80.
As
New Year’s 2008 approached, I received some unexpected
calls from Will and Jessie: “When are we
getting started for the 2008 Lymphomathon?” I reminded
them that Wendy’s Eagles had retired. Each of
them said the same thing: “Fine, Mom. You don’t have to
do it. But we’re rounding up students on campus to come
to Dallas and walk with Wendy’s Eagles!”
I
asked myself: “How can I have my children hosting this
team without me?” I may be done teaching my children,
now that they are out of the house. But I’ll never be
done trying to give back for the research that saved my
life.
I’ll never forget that in 1993, after my lymphoma
recurred a second time—the first time after chemo; the
second time after radiation—my long-term prognosis was
terrible. I’ll never forget the difficulty of making the
decision to enter a Phase I trial of IDEC C2B8, a novel
monoclonal antibody. Or how, over the next four years, I
received the experimental drug in three different
clinical trials.
Most importantly, I remember how by the time my cancer
recurred a sixth time, in 1998, the trial drug was FDA
approved and marketed as Rituxan. How this drug became
standard therapy for many types of lymphoma. How I
received it for a fifth time from November 2005 through
November 2007 for my most recent recurrence, and how
well it worked for me.
Although my cancer is in remission right now, I know it
may come back again. And next time, my lymphoma may be
resistant to Rituxan. No matter what happens with me,
thousands of other lymphoma survivors need better
treatments than those that are available now. The
textbooks still say my type of lymphoma is incurable.
The textbooks are wrong:
My type
of cancer is not incurable;
It’s one
of the types for which researchers are still searching
for a cure.
Read
about what the Lymphomathon means to me
|
