Leukemia and lymphoma are affecting those in our community. Kim Merritt, a local resident and my cheer coach for the last 8 years had almost lost her son in 2018 due to acute promyelocytic leukemia, or better known as APL. 

"Jessy was diagnosed with APL, a type of leukemia, in June of 2018.  He had no idea he was sick but a routine blood test showed that he had no platelets and no white blood cells.  Without platelets, his blood was unable to clot, therefore if he were to have any type of injury he would bleed to death.  Without knowing he had cancer, his lack of platelets would also eventually lead to internal hemorrhaging which he would die from because he would be unaware it was happening. He was called at work and told to go immediately to the hospital. From Howard County, he was sent to University of Maryland where he stayed for 30 days. He was treated every day with IV arsenic, and high levels of vitamin A. The vitamin made him very sick but was necessary because the high levels of vitamin A will help his blood clot in case of bleeding. The arsenic was used to attack and destroy the cancer cells. When he was released from the hospital, he still had to continue treatment for 12 months. I would take him for his treatment everyday for 30 days and he would recieve a 2 hour infusion of arsenic. After 30 days, he would get a 30 day break. He continued to take the vitamin A pills for the year. He finished his last treatments in May of 2019.  He also had chest x rays twice a week that year because the treatment he was getting caused a lot of stress on the heart and could lead to a heart attack.  Now, he goes for check ups 4 times a year which is basically a blood test. APL now has a 99% survival rate if caught before internal bleeding begins.  If not caught, it is one of the most aggressive and deadly cancers. His bloodwork was normal in Dec 2017, 6 months later, he was within days of bleeding to death."

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page, welcome!

I encourage you to join me in supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) by making a donation to my fundraising campaign. By donating to LLS, you support the many facets of LLS’s mission work from investing in groundbreaking research, providing education and support to patients, and advocating at the state and federal level for legislation to help those living with cancer. My appreciation for your support cannot be overstated — each and every dollar donated to LLS brings us closer to our goal to end blood cancer and makes an impact for cancer patients and their families.

As a global leader in the fight to end cancer, LLS is committed to doing more for blood cancer patients and families than any organization in the world. LLS’s signature fundraising campaigns drive critical support for its mission, including a nearly $1.3 billion investment in cutting edge cancer research worldwide since it was founded in 1949. Since the 1960s, survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled.

Every facet of LLS’s mission – research, education and support, and policy and advocacy – work in harmony to put blood cancer patients and their families first. LLS has helped millions impacted by cancer throughout its more than 70-year history, even funding breakthrough blood cancer research to advance lifesaving treatments and cures that is now helping patients with other cancers and diseases. That is why at LLS we say that beating cancer is in our blood.

Please visit my website as often as you can and share it with everyone you know who would also like to join us in the fight against cancer. Together, we have the power, the passion and the resolve to achieve a world without blood cancer. All donations are tax-deductible.

On behalf of cancer patients and their families everywhere, I sincerely thank you for your support!

For more information about LLS, please visit lls.org