To summit up, Lee, my parents and I are trekking (or attempting to) Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa in October and we thought it would be a great opportunity to raise money for a good cause….and what better cause than one that hits very close to home.
In December 2016, a few weeks before Christmas, Lee was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML). CML is a super rare type of cancer which affects the blood and bone marrow, where the body produces too many white cells (45 x the regular amount in Lee’s case – he always has to be so extra) and interferes with normal blood cell production, causing anaemia, infection and all sorts of other serious problems. It was a very scary few months, learning all of the potential and inevitable outcomes, waiting for results and waiting to see what options were available for treatment. Lee had to undergo procedures to have bone marrow removed, chemotherapy (including all the illness that comes with it) and what seems like 10,000 blood tests.
Luckily (if you can say that) the chemotherapy worked and brought his white blood cell count right down and thankfully there is medication which he takes every day that will help control the cancer while he goes about normal life for now. Though there is no cure for the cancer at this stage, one thing that the Doctors said which has really stuck with us was that "If you would have come to us with this 10 years ago we would be telling you that you have 6-12 months left to live”. So if that is the type of progress medicine can make in 10 years, imagine the kind of changes that could happen in another 10 and more? Which is why we would like to raise money for research on CML.
We would also like to raise money for CML as there are some people out there who are not as lucky as us. Because the cancer is so rare the medicine required daily currently starts from $62,000 per year and can be as much as $134,000 per year, which in some cases is not covered by Medicare or other medical rebates. So hopefully with additional research and medical advances, the required medicine can become more available/affordable to those who need it.
Thanks to the current research and medicine, Lee is here and well enough to do the Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, and we would like to use it as an opportunity to give back so please dig deep and donate to the Leukaemia Foundation.
Today, 35 Australians will get the news they have blood cancer. That's another 35 reasons to support the Leukaemia Foundation's work – providing practical and emotional support to people facing the challenge of blood cancer, as well as investing in vital research to find better treatments and cures. Across Australia, 60,000 people are going through this in right now - please sponsor me and help me reach my goal.
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