I survived blood cancer as a child. Help others beat leukemia and lymphoma.
'Your son has a fifty-fifty chance to live.'
I don't have children of my own, so it's hard to imagine how a parent responds to those words. But 28 years ago, my parents found themselves facing that dilemma. It's strange to look back on a moment I don't remember and think about how — at an age when death is on the horizon for so few — my life was already down to coinflip. But that's the reality of cancer.
Specifically, acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). ALL results when a cancerous growth causes immature lymphocytes — a certain type of white blood cells — to grow uncontrollably and thereby prevent the production of healthy white and red blood cells. Because of the progression of my illness when I was first diagnosed, I was labeled a 'high-risk' patient.
And so I began 30 months of chemotherapy. One of the 'perks' of being diagnosed so young is that I don't remember many of its effects — the vomiting, nausea, inability to sleep, weight loss, hair loss, et cetera. I only have pictures and brief glimpses of memories from that time. Like of showing up to kindergarten hooked up to an IV. Or of the many hours spent in a hospital room or bed. And the scars with which I can remember the intravenous infusions.
That said, I do have my life, and I avoided many of the long-term side effects associated with some of the experimental drugs I took. Some people who participated in the same trials experienced severe heart issues and significant developmental issues. I remain grateful that my survival did not come at the cost of my long-term health.
And while I have personal experience with blood cancer, so do thousands of other Americans. Roughly 200,000 people are diagnosed with a blood cancer on a yearly basis. Blood cancer will claim the lives of 55,000 Americans every year. And that's to say nothing of the thousands of others who will be impacted by a cancer diagnosis — family, friends, co-workers, community, and more.
But that doesn't mean that cancer is inevitable. Over the past 50 years, survival rates for three most common blood cancers — leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma — have increased by leaps and bounds.
A patient diagnosed with leukemia in 1975 had a survival rate of about 34% on average. A patient diagnosed today would survive about 70% of the time. That's a monumental accomplishment, one that has been possible only through billions of dollars in research and public-private partnerships.
But that balance is in more danger than ever. Politically-driven changes at the federal level threaten billions in dollars in research funding, with the potential for more on the way. And fewer Americans are donating to charity, even if the average donation amount is up.
That's part of the reason that I work with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The LLS has been at the forefront of the battle against blood cancer for the last 80 years, and it will continue to lead the charge in the years to come. They funded several of the experimental drugs that helped rid me of cancer, and they helped me gain access to the clinical trials for those drugs. In addition to research, the money they raise also goes to support patients who are currently battling cancer. And they provide that support to thousands of patients and families every year.
All that's to say, I hope that you will consider donating to my campaign for the LLS (you can donate here - pages.lls.org/voy/tn/nash25/jdurstomg). The money goes to a good cause (but you can also check the organization out here - charitynavigator.org/ein/135644916), and every dollar counts. With your help, we can find a cure.
Jacob Durst lives in Nashville with his puppy, Meatloaf. He is strategic litigation counsel in the Strategic Litigation Unit within the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General and is a childhood leukemia survivor. This article represents the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Support efforts to fight and cure leukemia and lymphoma | Opinion
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