Light The Night To Help Save Lives ~
*This is a Fashionista Events Opportunity.
“Light The Night” is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s main fundraising event of the year. This hour-long fundraising walk is held at sunset, and participants hold illuminated balloons in the air to “Light The Night”. Events are held nationwide, so be sure to check the website for a walk near you.
Cancer Affects Everyone
Whether it is through a friend, family member, co-worker or neighbor, cancer touches everyone’s lives at some point. I had a college professor who was affected by Lymphoma. He told us {my husband and I – we had his class together} of how he had Lymphoma a semester or so before we ever met him. Another student in our class also had him that semester that he was sick, She said that he only missed like one class the whole time he was going through cancer treatment. Can you believe that? I can’t imagine what he had to go through. Even though he had to go through such a physically and mentally challenging time, he still carried on with his daily life. I don’t think he was married either, so much of this journey may have even been on his own. I was very impressed with his story and proud of how he stood up to such a horrific disease with such grace. He was a great teacher as well, but I think his heroic story is the thing that I took away from the class that I find most important. He really was an inspiration to me.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: Fighting All Blood Cancers
My beautiful grandmother passed away a few years ago from another blood cancer – Multiple Myeloma. She was from Australia originally and always told us her funny stories of a life that we couldn’t imagine. I like to imagine it was full of koalas and kangaroos. 🙂 My grandfather met her while stationed in the Philippines during WW2, I believe, and I always liked to joke that he brought himself a souvenir home. Though my grandmother was not diagnosed with cancer until her 80s and lived a very full and rich life, many people do not get that opportunity. Before she was diagnosed with cancer, she was always a very healthy woman and only stayed in the hospital to deliver her children and to have her appendix removed. With our help, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society can help fight diseases that our taking our loves ones far too soon.
Light The Night To Save Lives
Through the hard work, dedication and fundraising efforts of “Light The Night” participants, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is able to provide patient support services, advocacy for lifesaving treatments and the most promising cancer research anywhere. Participants of all ages are welcome at “Light The Night”, as it is a casual fundraising walk with no fitness requirement. So, please do not feel that you can not participate if you would like to.
My husband passed away July 10th after a 17 month long battle with leukemia. February of 2012 he spent a month in the hospital while the doctors tried to find out why he was so sick. After several biopsies they found one cell in his liver so he was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma as well as MDS with 5q-. After going through treatment for the Lymphoma he had a PET scan in October that came back clear. Shortly after the PET scan he developed a cough and after a few weeks I made him go get checked out. His oncologist told him he had to go to UNC hospital and he had to do it right then and there, it was a matter of life or death. It was a few days later that he was told he had Leukemia. Since finding out, he was in and out of the hospital a few times and in February of this year he had a bone marrow transplant. In May, he found out the transplant failed. He then went through the process of getting into a study at Duke. At first, he was told no because of the original Lymphoma diagnosis, but after the pathologist at Duke reviewed his entire file, they discovered it had been leukemia all along. He was then accepted into the program and started the drug on his birthday, June 10th. At first everything looked promising, but then things slowly went downhill. He fought hard, but in the end he had several infections, a fungus, and no immune system left to fight. My parents were able to get the children and myself to the hospital so we could see him one last time. I stayed overnight while they went to the hospital. That morning his parents got there, held his hands, and he went peacefully.
I am so sorry to read about your loss. I appreciate you sharing your story with us and I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.
Cancer touches us all. Sad and tragic I’m glad that there is more and more awareness being brought to it. I like it that we are doing fundraisers and events to help spread the word and gain some money to help. The stories are inspiring and help to bring people together.