Gracie Eastridge says, 

“I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at four years old. I had been bruising really easily and had pain in my legs, and after a blood test they confirmed that I had cancer. I had to have chemotherapy so all my hair fell out, and I had surgery to implant a portacath into my chest that they would use to connect the IV to my veins to give me the chemo and other medication.  I was in and out of the hospital for a bit and eventually I was well enough to go back home for good. I still had to have medical checkups to make sure the cancer would stay away and had a little bit of chemo given to me every month for about two years. After that was over, I was able to take the portacath out! I still have a yearly checkup, but as it has been over ten years since I was officially done with everything, I am essentially cured.  I am incredibly lucky to be so healthy. I have some leg weakness and a scar on my chest but other than that I’m perfectly fine. I know many others who have to deal with so much more than I do.”

I am honored to participate as a team member for the 2020 Students of the Year program, a seven-week initiative in which select high school students from around the country participate in a fundraising competition to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I am proud to support my candidate and am raising critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero who is currently battling or is in remission from a blood cancer. Each dollar is a vote. The candidate team that raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Student of the Year. Our mission is to not only raise the most money but also to bring attention to blood cancers like leukemia, which is the most common form of cancer in children and teens.

Since the early 1960s, five-year survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled. And many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are helping patients with other cancers and serious diseases. In fact, drugs first approved for blood cancers are now approved to treat patients with stomach cancers, skin cancers, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

We really are changing the face of blood cancer!

All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. They'll not only support LLS-funded research but will help provide critical information and support for patients, and support advocacy for laws to ensure patients can access the care and treatments they need.

Please visit our website often and bring friends who would also like to donate!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you for your support!

For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org.