Hey friends, you probably already got the short version of this via email, but if you’re really curious, here’s a longer version.
I’m riding 100 miles in Tahoe to raise money for Blood Cancer United (née Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and would love your support. As you probably know, long bike rides are a thing I enjoy and I also happen to have leukemia (don’t worry, I’ll be fine) so doing a charity ride to support an organization that has supported me seems like an obvious choice.
In May 2024 I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). The tip-off was a routine eye exam where my optometrist noticed small hemorrhages in my retina. She said “this isn’t a problem with your vision, but something else is wrong in your body and you need to see a doctor.” I got a shitload of bloodwork and 36hrs later my dr calls me and says, “Your white blood cell count is 6x the upper limit, meaning you probably have leukemia. Get yourself to ER in the next four hours.”
After three shitty days in the hospital (nothing pairs with boredom like fear and grief) and a lot of tests, I left with a diagnosis of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) which, turns out, responds phenomenally well to medication and is very unlikely to kill me. While there is no “cure” for CML, there is a class of miracle drugs called Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) which will allow me to live a full and normal life. All I need to do is take a daily pill; probably for the rest of my life. I am lucky to have minimal side effects.
One of the many things Blood Cancer United does is to fund cancer research, including the discovery of TKIs. To put it bluntly, they are one of the reasons I will live past 45. You can read the short version on the Blood Cancer United site, or there’s a whole-ass book about it by Jessica Wapner called “The Philadelphia Chromosome” which is a good read even if you don't have CML.
The second most impactful thing that Blood Cancer United has done for me personally is around patient/survivor advocacy. They have specialists you can call and talk to twelve hours a day, they’ve got a group chat for CML patients specifically (the disease is a little rare, it’s nice to connect with others), they’ve sent me to a conference, and they are a great source of information not only for patients/survivors, but also their friends and family (ahem).
So yeah, your support means a lot to me. If you’re able to contribute even a small amount I’d really appreciate it. There are lots of people with shittier forms of blood cancer, or who have bad side-effects from the drug and I would love for you to support them as well.
