Inspirational Stories

My son was rubbing my shoulders and noticed a lump on the side of my neck which freaked him out.  He then told my wife about it and they demanded that I go have it checked. In November 2013, I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

I had my second round of treatment this past spring. The first one was rituxan alone and this last time was rituxan along with bendamustine for six months.

Our oldest is a freshman in college and likely to be living on his own in the next year or so, and our youngest will be out of the house in the next few years. After that, I don't know what my wife and I will do when it comes down to taking care of things. I do know that we are grateful that they have made it this far, and we hope that they will remember my wife and I for all of the good decisions that we tried to make.

Like everyone else, our family is simply trying to make things work, but the expense and anxiety of cancer can get be very hard. We are fortunate to have the support of family and friends.

To other cancer patients or survivors, it’s important to go to the website to see what resources and information is available to you, about your specific disease. Never be afraid to ask for help.