(ARA) – After a routine blood test in 2001, Helen Anbinder, now 67, of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., heard the dreaded words: You have cancer. The diagnosis was chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a serious blood cancer that affects more than 90,000 people in the United States.

One of her first calls was to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to learn more about what lay ahead for her. “The literature arrived quickly, along with the location of my local chapter, a list of support groups and an offer to put me in touch with someone who had CLL and could speak to me from personal experience,” Anbinder recalls.

Anbinder was put on a “watch and wait” protocol, holding off on treatment unless the white blood count rose to dangerous levels or she developed symptoms. In the meantime, Anbinder immersed herself more fully in the activities of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, volunteering with her local chapter.

In 2004 she formed her first “Anbinder Friends & Family Team” for LLS’s Light The Night Walk, an evening walk held in twilight in communities across the United States and Canada, to pay tribute to lives touched by cancer. Participants carry illuminated balloons, white for survivors, red for supporters and gold to honor those who have lost their battle with cancer. Funds raised through Light The Night Walk support the work of hundreds of the world’s best and brightest researchers in their search for better therapies and cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

In its first year, Anbinder’s team walked at the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan, and raised $6,000 to support blood cancer research and patient services. The following year they raised more than $19,000; in 2006 they raised $21,000; in 2007, they raised more than $23,000; and at the walk in October 2008 they broke their record with more than $27,000 raised.

Last year’s walk took on even more meaning for Anbinder, because after seven years of watching and waiting, her white blood cell count climbed high enough to warrant treatment just months prior to the event.

The treatment she received had been proven effective by researchers funded by LLS. In 2005, Dr. John C. Byrd of the Ohio State Medical Center, and clinical colleagues, were among the first to discover that Rituxan combined with fludarabine was effective for previously untreated patients with CLL. Rituxan, a monoclonal antibody, was already being used to successfully treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. Anbinder began her treatment with this combination in May 2008 and after only three cycles was in remission by July.

“I can never forget that the very effective treatment I received was developed by Dr. Byrd, a researcher funded by LLS and that it didn’t even exist when I was diagnosed in 2001,”Anbinder says. “I am so grateful to be able to help support the lifesaving work of LLS funded researchers.”

Anbinder’s team will once again walk the Brooklyn Bridge in October 2009. Friends and family teams, as well as corporate teams all across the country are beginning to form right now in preparation for the fall walk season. Participants can also walk individually. To learn more about Light The Night Walk or to form your own team, visit www.lightthenight.org or call (877) LTN-WALK.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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If she has learned anything, Christina Loch has learned the meaning of life. The thirty-five-year-old Vancouver native enjoys, kayaking and traveling whenever she has a chance. She goes to the gym regularly and always makes time for friends and family. But the passion Christina has for life comes from the lessons she has learned living with lymphoma.

At age 27, Christina was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. For two months before her diagnosis she experienced night sweats, anemia, breathing problems, drastic weight loss and unexplained fevers. One morning Christina felt nauseous, vomited blood, collapsed onto the floor and was rushed to the hospital.

“When I first met my oncologist, he took my hand and asked me if I knew what oncology meant,” remembers Christina. “I told him I had heard of the word, but I didn’t know what it meant. He said he was a cancer specialist.”

She had a biopsy and underwent chemotherapy immediately. The doctors found three tumours, one in her chest, one in her right kidney and one in her right lung. After two months of chemotherapy, she was admitted to the BC Cancer Agency for high-dose chemotherapy. She fought her cancer for two solid years, during which, after achieving remission from the initial diagnosis, the cancer came back twice; once behind her left ear and later in her left kidney.

“The chemotherapy made me tired and I lost all of my hair in clumps, which really startled me,” said Christina. She started Rituxan treatments at the end of May, 2000. “The treatment saved my life.”

Research continues to uncover exciting advances in treating lymphoma. Recently, Health Canada approved Rituxan for patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to be used following initial treatment as maintenance therapy when cancer is in remission, to keep the disease from progressing or recurring.

For the past five and a half years, Christina has been in remission. She’s learned the importance of drawing strength from wherever you can. She recognizes the importance of having hope and shares her experience with other cancer patients. She is active in the cancer community, and advocates for young adult cancer support. “Today I feel great and I take every opportunity to do as much as I can,” says Christina. “My fight with lymphoma has taught me that every day really counts and that you have to appreciate the little things in life.”

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that affects the lymphocytes, a specific type of white blood cell. For more information about its symptoms, diagnosis and treatment and what you can do to help people like Christina, you can contact Lymphoma Foundation Canada at 1-866-659-5556 or online at www.lymphoma.ca.

Credit: www.newscanada.com

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