Someday is Today!
For many people in our area, because of generous donations like yours, someday is today. Emily Dumler would like to share her story with you today.
Dear Friend,
I am cancer-free today because of you. When you make a donation to LLS you are not only providing blood cancer patients and their families like ours with high quality education and support. You are funding world-class, cutting-edge, life-saving research. The pioneering research that saved my life. The type of research that will lead to a cure.
I am a lymphoma cancer survivor; however, this time two years ago, I was as close to death as you could get.
In August 2013, I was admitted to the hospital for a bleeding disorder. After 43 days in the hospital, a splenectomy, and 45 blood and platelet transfusions, I was finally diagnosed with stage II diffused large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 32. After six rounds of chemotherapy and a few short months of remission, I relapsed.
In January 2015, I received a stem cell transplant after enduring several days of the hardest treatment imaginable. Just a few short months later, I found out the stem-cell transplant was unsuccessful. I was given six months to live, when my doctor’s encouraged me to find a clinical trial to enroll in.
In July 2015, I was the third patient in the world enrolled in this Phase I investigational treatment.
Since my last scan in August 2017, and I am still in remission today, 27 months later! This is truly amazing news…not just for me but for so many people, who like myself, had run out of other options, all because of generous donations such as the ones I am asking you to give today.
The initial research for the CAR-T immunotherapy I received was developed with 90% funding from LLS. Had LLS not funded this project, even the researchers say that CAR-T immunotherapy would not have further developed. Half of all cancer drugs approved by the FDA in the past decade were originally designated for blood cancer. It is believed that all cancers, not just blood cancers, will likely be cured through blood cancer research. I, too, have donated money to various organizations in the past, but I was never sure if the money I was contributing actually made a difference. The answer in this case is absolutely, 100% yes! Your donations are not only advancing medicine and creating new treatment options, but I believe soon enough you will also be able to say that the money you donated actually helped find a cure. I am proof that this is money well spent.
Over the past twenty years, LLS has invested $40 million in the development of CAR-T immunotherapy at 15 research institutions and companies around the world, On October 19, 2017, this investment and your support accomplished something remarkable – the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved CAR-T immunotherapy for patients like me who have run out of other treatment options.
The FDA approval is certainly inspiring and gives hope to families like ours. But we know we have more to do in the fight for cures for all blood cancer patients. Now is the time to keep changing the game. To keep innovating. To keep advocating. To keep hope alive.
Someday is today. Your renewed support will have a tremendous impact on the lives of people like me – neighbors in your local community, families throughout the country and the world – who rely on the life-saving research and compassionate care that LLS provides every day. Please join us with a gift of value to you.
