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Celebrating cancer survivorship on the local front
By Janice Youngwith
For some 12 million cancer survivors across the country and around the world, Sunday, June 7 will be a banner day as they celebrate life and survivorship during National Cancer Survivor Day celebrations in more than 700 communities throughout the United States, Canada and as far away as Australia, Italy and Malaysia.
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| Cancer survivor Dick Youngwith says there is cause for celebration. |
About National Cancer Survivors Day
Now celebrating its 22nd year, the observance on June 7 is the world's largest and fastest growing annual cancer survivor event, bringing together survivors, families, friends, physicians and health care professionals dedicated to cancer treatment, diagnosis, research and support. Some 12 million Americans now live with and beyond a diagnosis of cancer.
In the beginning, cancer survivor Richard Bloch, co-founder of H & R Block, and his wife, Annette, held their first Cancer Survivor Rally in Kansas City, Mo., to obtain media coverage that would demonstrate that a diagnosis of cancer was not an automatic death sentence. The idea soon caught on in other communities - now numbering more than 700 - and has become known as National Cancer Survivors Day.
Bloch, who died of heart failure in 2004, helped develop the Physicians Data Query computer system for the National Cancer Institute and in 1982 was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the National Cancer Advisory Board. The Blochs founded the R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation and together wrote three books on cancer.
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The 22nd annual NCSD observance is the world's largest cancer survivor event, celebrating those living with a history of cancer - from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life. Statistically, in the United States, more than half of all men and one-third of all women are expected to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life.
The National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation encourages everyone to participate in a community event. To locate an event near you, contact your hospital, American Cancer Society office or the Foundation at (615) 794-3006 or e-mail info@ncsdf.org.
A survivor is anyone living with a history of cancer - from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life, as defined by the Foundation.
Dick Youngwith, a 54-year-old Carol Stream resident, is one of many survivors who say there is great cause for celebration.
Three years ago, the engineering manager for FM Global, Park Ridge, was diagnosed with acute myelogenic leukemia after tripping on the steps at work and banging his shin.
"I thought I may have broken my leg and instead learned I had leukemia," states the father of four. "Evidently, this disease, which I knew very little about at the time, was very urgent. I was admitted to the hospital just hours after receiving the diagnosis."
Youngwith says that during an ensuing monthlong hospital stay and treatment at Loyola University Medical Center, he learned his acute leukemia meant he had an elevated amount of blast cells - immature white blood cells. "Large quantities of blasts generally overgrow the bone marrow, leaving very little space for the normal bone marrow cells," he says in describing the disease.
'This was just the beginning'
Youngwith began induction chemotherapy which was designed to reduce or eliminate blast cells and complicated by cardiac issues. Side effects were severe, including high fevers, threats of renal failure, infection and very low blood pressure.
"This was just the beginning," Youngwith explains. "The best option for survival would be a bone marrow transplant and the search for a donor was begun immediately."
While Youngwith began four grueling rounds of consolidation chemotherapy, doctors began testing his four siblings and searched the National Marrow Donor Registry with it's eight million entries and the International Donor Registry - all with no success.
"With chemo alone, I was told there would be a 70 percent chance of relapse within 6 months," he says. "I fell right within those parameters."
Upon relapse, he was hospitalized, received additional chemotherapy and prepared for a bone marrow transplant. Doctors opted to use stem cells from a baby's umbilical cord.
Youngwith received his transplant on Sept. 11, 2007 and says while the experience was harrowing, he is blessed to have a second chance at life.
"The experience has given me a new perspective on life and made me really think about what is most important, my family," he states. "People may think I have courage but it's really my family, co-workers and friends who are courageous. Without their support, I wouldn't be celebrating survivorship today. It's a long road to recovery and I still have many hurdles, but couldn't be more determined."
Youngwith's latest bone marrow biopsy in April - he's had more than a dozen at this point in his three-year battle - showed encouraging results.
"I'm cancer-free and the transplant is working," he reports. "Definitely cause for celebration."
According to The National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation, survivors face many challenges such as hindered access to cancer specialists and promising new treatments, inadequate or no insurance, financial hardships, employment problems and psychological struggles.
"Despite these difficulties, cancer survivors can live active, productive lives," says Paula Chadwell, Foundation spokeswoman.
Survivors Day is the world's fastest-growing and largest cancer survivorship event and the nonprofit National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation supports hundreds of hospitals, support groups and other cancer-related organizations hosting National Cancer Survivors Day events in their community by providing free guidance, education and networking. Its primary mission is to educate the public on the issues of cancer survivorship in order to better the quality of life for cancer survivors.
Editor's note: Writer Janice Youngwith interviewed her husband, Dick, for this story.
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