Remembering Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis spent her life as a strong and healthy woman. She was filled with enthusiasm and adventure and knew how to endure life's great challenges with dignity and grace. Only a few months after the death of her baby Patrick in 1963, her husband, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas. Jackie was only 34 years old and was left to raise her children, Caroline and John Jr., alone.

Later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. In 1973 she was widowed again when Onassis died in a plane crash. After suffering this loss, Mrs. Onassis moved to New York where she worked in publishing, first at Viking Press and then at Doubleday.

In December 1993, she noticed some swelling in her right groin. A doctor diagnosed it as an infection and prescribed antibiotics. Although the swelling went down some, it never disappeared. Over the Christmas holidays, while on a cruise, Mrs. Onassis developed a cough and noticed even more swollen lymph nodes in her neck as well as some pain in her abdomen.

A physician then ordered a CAT scan and biopsy which revealed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In early January 1994, Mrs. Onassis began aggressive chemotherapy which initially led to a remission. But soon, she was weak and sick again and an MRI showed lymphoma in her brain and spinal cord.

After receiving chemo and radiation directly to her brain, she became very weak and disoriented. Soon doctors discovered the lymphoma had spread to her liver and told her there was nothing more they could do.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis died on May 19, 1994.

Mission Moment Monday: 20 Famous Blood Cancer Patients

Our mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Blood cancers have a huge impact on people of every age, gender, and background. Blood cancers do not care who you are or how much money you have. People from every walk of life are touched by these diseases. Following is a list of some famous blood cancer patients:

1. Mary Travers- Mary was a member of the folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 and made a complete recovery following chemotherapy treatments.
2. Mr. T- Known for large gold jewelry and his quote "I pity the fool", Mr. T coincidentally battled T-cell lymphoma.
3. Tom Landry- Head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for 29 seasons, Tom died of leukemia in February 2000 at the age of 75.
4. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis- The former first lady was diagnosed with lymphoma which later metastasized to her brain and liver. She died in 1994.
5. David Quessenberry- The Houston Texans offensive tackle is currently undergoing lymphoma treatments at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
6. Michael C. Hall- Famously known for his roles in Six Feet Under and Dexter, the actor was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2010.
7. Tom Brokaw- In February 2014, Tom announced he'd been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
8. Ed Bradley- During his 25-year career as a broadcast journalist on 60 Minutes, he won 19 Emmys. Ed died during a surgery on his spleen. He was suffering at the time from leukemia.
9. Geraldine Ferraro- Ferraro inspired women all over America as a great attorney and politician. In 1998, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and became a great advocate for research before dying of the disease in 2011.
10. Marie Curie- One of the most celebrated scientists of her time, Curie was most famous for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium. She won two Nobel Prizes, one in chemistry and another for physics which she shared with both her husband and Henry Becquerel. It is believed that her extended exposure to radioactive materials led to her diagnosis of leukemia and subsequent death.
11. Bill Walsh- Long time head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and Stanford University, Bill died of leukemia at the age of 75.
12. Peter Boyle- Best known for his role as the sharp-tongued dad on Everybody Loves Raymond, Peter died of multiple myeloma in 2006.
13. Paul Allen- The co founder of Microsoft beat Hodgkin lymphoma in 1983 and was later diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2009.
14. King Hussein of Jordan- Following a stem cell transplant for lymphoma, he died in 1999.
15. Gene Wilder- The actor/comedian underwent a life-saving autologous stem cell transplant for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
16. Ryan O'Neal- The famous actor beat leukemia. Later, he suffered from a secondary cancer, stage four prostate cancer.
17. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- This basketball legend has been taking Gleevec® for his leukemia.
18. Evan Handler- Best known for his roles on Californication and Sex and the City, Evan beat leukemia at the age of 23. At the time, he was not expected to survive his very difficult battle against AML.
19. Robin Roberts- After overcoming breast cancer, Robin suffered a great side effect of her treatments, myelodysplastic syndrome (a precursor to AML) and underwent a bone marrow transplant. Her sister was her donor.
20. Harland Sanders- Known as "Colonel Sanders", he created Kentucky Fried Chicken and traveled 250,000 miles per year visiting his many restaurants until he died of leukemia in 1980 at the age of 90.

There are very many more famous folks who have had blood cancers. Neither fame nor fortune can stop these diseases. The answer to ending blood cancers lies in the hands of researchers who work diligently to develop better therapies to both extend and improve life.

In the below video, Gene Wilder talks about his battle against NHL and stem cell transplant.

Mission Moment Monday: Sophie's Story

by Sophie Hoelscher Long, Texas Gulf Honored Hero

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the age of 24. Before I was diagnosed, I was living life like a normal 24-year-old enjoying the real world, moving up the corporate ladder at work, taking weekend road trips, wedding planning, and being a first time home owner.

As all this was going on, six weeks before my wedding, things suddenly changed. I was experiencing weight gain, swollen lymph nodes, itching, fatigue and being constantly out of breath. After some time, things didn't get better so I went to my general practitioner who at the time, misdiagnosed me with a form of bed bugs. Exhausted and out of options, I went to my dermatologist who immediately knew something wasn't right and ordered me to have blood work done. The next day, he called me and told me an appointment had been set for me to see an oncologist.

The next 24 hours were horrible. I was so restless, stressed out, worried and had questions racing through my mind. After seeing the oncologist things moved rather quickly. Within a week, I had a bone marrow biopsy, PET scan, and met with an ENT to schedule a lymph node biopsy.

On February 19, 2013 my world as I knew it forever changed. I went in for a quick and easy procedure of having a lymph node from my neck removed and during surgery, my airway collapsed on the operating room table. At that very moment I was put into a medically induced coma for the next six weeks.

That day they discovered a football size mass in my chest. Three days later, I was life flighted to the medical center, had a stint put in my airway, a trach put in my throat, hooked up to a ventilator and that night, started chemotherapy. When I woke up in late March, I had no idea what was going on besides thinking I was waking up in the recovery room from my lymph node biopsy. Within the next few days I became more coherent and learned piece by piece what the last six weeks had been like.

For me, I felt nothing and remembered nothing. But for those around me it was restless nights, worried until they made themselves sick, prayed until they were blue in the face, researching the internet until they felt their fingers wanting to fall off.

The next six months consisted of making the tough decision to shave my head, postponing our wedding, eight more rounds of chemotherapy, learning how to walk, talk, write and eat again, catching every possible hospital virus out there, and dealing with the corneal abrasion of my eye and the complications that followed.

It was the worst eight months and 13 days of my life. I was so sick! I was miserable. I kept wanting this all to be a nightmare and I would suddenly wake up. But it wasn't. It was real. I wasn't going to let cancer win this battle. I had the amazing support of family, friends, my husband, our work family, our community and even complete strangers. I had prayers and support coming my way from all over the world.

On August 29, I was in my hospital, when my miracle man- my oncologist, walked in and told me I won. I won my battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and was now considered CANCER FREE! Even though I won this battle, I was still dealing with the aftermaths and my journey wasn't quite over. I still had to start and complete 17 rounds of radiation therapy which I completed on October 29.

Since that day, I have gained most of my strength back, was able to get married on January 11, returned back to work, and waking up each morning thanking God for the second chance at life I was given.

I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in Light the Night for the first time in 2013. Although I was unable to walk at the time because I was still in treatment, I was pushed in my wheelchair alongside 65 of my teammates. My team and I were able to raise over $6,000.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has given me hope. They've given hope to other patients, families, survivors, or those who battled til the end. To know that all the donations and participants in the walks are focused on one goal, the goal to raise funds for continued research for blood cancers and offer support and services for patients and their families.

Help me find cures TODAY. Not someday, but TODAY.

Thank you for creating more survivors like me.

LLS Wins Top Charity Fundraiser

Dana-Susan Crews, Jason Berger and Amanda Payne gratefully accepting
the award for Top Charity With A Training Program at the
Houston Marathon Run For A Reason Awards luncheon

Each year since 1996, our local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society chapter has proudly participated in the Houston Marathon's Run For A Reason charity program. This amazing program includes now 60 charities in the Houston area. Runners in both the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon can participate in their race and raise funds for one of the non profit organizations in the program.

The January 2015 race marked the fifth year in a row that together, charity runners raised more than $2 million! The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was the "Top Charity With A Training Program". Thanks to our Houston runners including Team Super Sue, we raised almost $200,000 and received our top fundraiser award at today's luncheon.

To everyone who continues to make the LLS a successful part of the Run For A Reason program, we thank you! Let's keep up the great work. Registration for the 2016 Houston Marathon is online now HERE.

Cancer: The Emperor Of All Maladies

"Cancer is built into us: the genes that unmoor normal cell division are not foreign to our bodies but rather mutated, distorted versions of the very genes that allow us to grow, to adapt, to recover, to repair - to live. Malignant growth and normal growth are so genetically intertwined that unbraiding the two is one of the most significant scientific challenges faced by our species. If we seek immortality, then so, too, in a rather perverse sense, does the cancer cell." ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee

Cancer. The very word can cause great fear. Humankind has been in a great war against cancer for thousands of years, long before we even knew what cancer was. Hundreds of millions of lives have been lost to cancer, both human and animal. Cancer does not discriminate. It doesn't care about age, gender, race, religion, socioeconomic background or nationality. It is a worldwide problem.

In the U.S.A. one in two men and one in three women will get cancer. The science behind these diseases is complex. In his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer", Siddhartha Mukherjee takes us on a journey through the history of cancer. According to Mukherjee, cancer has always existed, but it wasn't until 440 B.C. when the queen of Persia discovered a lump in her breast that the removal of a tumor first happened.

The publication of this book in 2010 sparked a new documentary film, "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies" premiering tonight on PBS. The 3-part, 6-hour film is considered the most comprehensive documentary on a disease ever made.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is a proud sponsor of the film. You can read more about it HERE. Or view the trailer below...

Why Charlie Brown, Why?

In 1990, Charles M. Schulz departed from the typically light hearted theme of the Peanuts specials. "Why Charlie Brown, Why?" is a story about leukemia.

Janice, a school friend of Linus feels sick one day at school and then begins to miss a lot of school. When Linus and Charlie Brown find out that Janice has leukemia, they are deeply troubled and go visit her in the hospital where they hear all about her tests and treatments.

This story touches on many aspects of childhood cancer, including fear, sibling distress, misunderstanding about cancer, insensitivity, hair loss and much more. It was nominated for an Emmy. Charles Schulz died of cancer 10 years after the film premiered. 

To view the entire movie on Youtube, click HERE.

Throwback Thursday: Cancer Treatments of the Past

Patient receiving radiation therapy. Photographer unknown.
From G. Terry Sharrer, Ph.D. National Museum of American History.

If you heard the news you had cancer before the 1950s, you knew your life was over. It was extremely rare in those days for someone to be diagnosed with any kind of cancer and think "I'll beat this".

Before the 50s, the most common treatment options for cancer were radiation therapy and surgery. Then, during World War II, military personnel were exposed to mustard gas and were later found to have major toxic changes in their bone marrow. Their white blood cell counts were extremely low when exposed to the gas.

It was believed that an agent that could damage rapidly growing white blood cells might have a similar effect on cancer. So, in the late 1940s, patients with advanced lymphomas were given the gas by vein. Not long after this, nitrogen mustard was used in children with acute leukemias and it began to produce remissions. This drug was the predecessor of methorexate, a chemo agent still in use today. The 1950's is considered the era of chemotherapy and researchers were heavily funded by the Leukemia Society of America (now called the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). You can read more about LLS funding over the years HERE.

Someday, we hope to look back at the year 2015 and say "Wow, remember when people had cancer? So glad that's something of the past." Thank you to all our donors who are making someday TODAY!