Ken is walking proof that investments in cancer research are worth it. When Ken was first diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in the late 1980s, he faced a challenging treatment course – and just about everything that could go wrong, did.
Back in those days, procedures like a bipedal lymphogram and staging laparotomy, a surgery to determine the stage of the cancer, were done as part of the diagnosis. Due to research, those invasive and expensive procedures are no longer done. Thankfully, he made it through. Seventeen years later, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin again at 50. The second time, a simple PET scan found the problem.
Because of advancements in research, the standard of care today is so radically different from what I initially received. I continue to work to make the path of today’s cancer patients faster and easier than my path over the last 38 years.
This diagnosis set off a difficult decade. He experienced every possible side effect, developed leukemia because of previous chemotherapy, and required a stem cell transplant. Side effects included severe graft vs host disease, which required several years of Photopheresis treatment. This left Ken easily susceptible to skin cancer. To date, there have been 17 instances.
Much better solutions are available today.
Ken also had to undergo multiple heart valve replacements because of the type of radiation he received initially. Today, treatment does not require radiation, and if it is used, radiation is much more precise than back in the 1980s.
Thanks to investments and advancements in research, people today who find themselves with diagnoses like Ken’s won’t find themselves facing the same challenges that he did. Ken credits the drug Gleevac, which was approved by the FDA a few years before he was diagnosed with leukemia, with helping him through that disease. Research has not only brought new ways to effectively treat cancer but has also dramatically improved patient quality of life.