Gregg

Age: 45
Type of Illness: Acute promyelocytic myelogneous leukemia (APML)
Diagnosed: December 2001
Blog: The C Word
San Francisco, California

Congratulations on making the choice to participate in TNT! You are in for one of the best adventures of your life. To introduce myself a bit more, here’s what happened to me:

My battle with leukemia began when I first noticed some bruises on my body in December 2001. The bruises increased in number, and spread to all parts of my body. I also became short of breath, hard to walk up stairs. A few days later, I awoke to find clots of blood around my teeth. My gums were bleeding.

So that day, three days before Christmas 2001, I went to Stanford and started treatment for acute promyelocytic myelogenous leukemia, or APML. The first six weeks were very difficult. I had to have some very severe chemotherapy with dehabilitating side effects. I was in the hospital almost that entire time in isolation. I had very severe, painful systemic infections – affecting my mouth, stomach, skin – almost all my body was affected. Within three weeks the infections were so severe that at one point my blood pressure was down to 60/40, and many thought I wouldn’t survive.

But I did make it. To fast forward, by May 2002, just five months after diagnosis, I was in complete remission with no evidence of the disease, where I remain today. They won’t say I’m “cured” of my leukemia, but they tell me it’s almost unheard of for a relapse to occur at this point.

So, why did my journey end so successfully? I found out that there was a treatment for my type of leukemia – a safe, effective and easy to take treatment that had been very successful. The treatment is a tiny pill – a derivative of Vitamin A. In 1995, when it came on the market, research took what was a completely fatal disease to one that is now the most survivable form of myelogenous leukemia. Almost everybody lives.

Think about what this means – ten years ago EVERYBODY who was diagnosed with my type of leukemia died within a few weeks of diagnosis. Remember the bleeding I had originally? Patients with APML back then bled to death within a few weeks of the onset of symptoms. I would have bled to death by the end of January 2002 if I did not have this treatment.

So, I’m here today, alive and in complete remission, like all others who are diagnosed with APML, because of the kinds of research your fundraising will go to support. That’s why your efforts this season are so vitally important.

I’ve been an honoree for TNT programs ever since getting out of the hospital. But to celebrate five years of being disease free, in 2007 I fundraised and completed the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon (see the picture of me immediately after finishing it above). I enjoyed it so much I did another half marathon in the fall for TNT, the Santa Barbara Half Marathon in November. If my experience is any indication, I can promise you you’re going to have an experience that will change your life this season.

I really look forward to meeting you all. You inspire and honor me by your participation more than you can know.

Thank you, and GO TEAM!

Last updated: August 2008