In the past 2 years, two families in our community, the Carlsons and the Karshes, have been impacted when their adult children have had to deal with blood cancers. Both are currently in remission now. This month we are supporting the Carlson Family Team at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Light The Night Walk, which takes place September 29. The money raised will go to research and to care for victims of these diseases.
To donate online, visit our team page http://pages.lightthenight.org/rm/DenverL16/carlsonsandfriends
Light The Night Walk is LLS’s annual walk and fundraising event and the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to people battling cancer. Teams of friends, family, and coworkers raise funds for LLS’s mission: To cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Walkers carry illuminated lanterns: white for survivors, red for supporters, and gold for those who have lost a loved one to blood cancer.
Currently there are more than 1.1 million people in the United States living with, or are in remission from a blood cancer. Approximately every three minutes one person in the U.S. is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Every ten minutes someone dies from a blood cancer. Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children under the age of 20. Blood cancer is the number three cause of all cancer-related deaths.
The funds we raise go to support research and patient services. Since 1954 LLS has funded more than $1 billion in blood cancer research, some of which has resulted in standard therapies for many other cancers. As a result, survival rates for some blood cancers have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled. LLS is currently funding 400 researchers globally. Of the 50 cancer drugs approved by the FDA since 2000, almost half of those were approved for blood cancers. Twelve of those treatments have been repurposed for other cancers/diseases, such as gastrointestinal tumors, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer’s.
As you may know, last year Traci was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent a series of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and on January 15, she had a follow-up PET scan, which affirmed she was cancer free! Donations brought in by the Light The Night Walk and other similar events supported the research that went into developing her treatment regimen. We are so grateful for that and realize there’s still more to be done, still more people to cure.
Please consider making a donation to our team for this very worthy cause.
For more information or to donate online, visit our team page http://pages.lightthenight.org/rm/DenverL16/carlsonsandfriends
Thank you in advance for your support.
Linda, Randy, Tessa, and Traci Carlson
