A message from longtime Team In Training athlete, Andy Gordon
Dear Friend of LLS – and fellow enthusiast,
As a blood cancer survivor, I am profoundly aware of the urgency of research and patient support in improving the lives and outcomes of people fighting blood cancer. Your very generous support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) tells me that you feel this urgency as well.
My story is not unique—which is why LLS’s work is so important.
I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2009, when I was 60 years old. I had just gotten married again after losing my first wife to this terrible disease in 1997. All I could think of was my two kids. How could I tell them I had the same cancer that took their mother’s life?
It’s true that when someone is diagnosed with a cancer like multiple myeloma or leukemia, the whole family gets cancer. I told my kids that medicine had advanced, I wasn’t going to die, and we would have a rich life together. Two stem cell transplants later and then treatment with an immunotherapy that didn’t exist when I was first diagnosed, I’m in complete remission. I am so grateful for the research and support that made my life possible, which means we are grateful to the supporters who make LLS’s work possible.
I got involved with LLS after my first transplant, riding in their Team In Training (TNT) Lake Tahoe 100-mile bike ride, which I’ve now done five times. It has helped me deal with my disease. I really think I’m helping cure myself by doing what I do with LLS and TNT. I’m also proud to have served LLS as president of the Board of Trustees for the Arizona Chapter.
My wife Patti and I have talked a lot about how we can deepen our impact at LLS and in the lives of patients and families coping with blood cancer. I want to leave a legacy that touches lives like mine and my family’s have been touched, a legacy that offers hope and cures. Leaving LLS as a beneficiary in our estate plans is the most powerful way we could achieve that.
I am writing to ask you to consider joining us in making this profound impact. With your estate gift to LLS, you fund the future of their important work. It doesn’t require an immediate contribution, and there is no minimum amount required either. You decide on the amount and the structure of your gift. For example, Patti and I have opted to leave LLS a specific amount from our estate when I pass. You also have the peace of mind knowing that if your circumstances change, you can change the instructions in your estate plan or will.
Most of all, you have the peace of mind knowing that you are leaving a legacy for future generations of blood cancer patients and families who need better treatments and compassionate support.
Thank you for considering this request. I know you have contributed generously to LLS in the past, and I am so grateful for all you have done. Your partnership in fighting for advances is making a difference in so many lives.
Sincerely
Andy Gordon
P.S. Please click here to find out more about how you can remember LLS in your plans, and establish a legacy that helps other blood cancer patients, survivors and families far into the future.