Eric Albright's Team In Training Page
Racing to Save Lives
Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
I am training to run in my first marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this marathon in honor of my dad, Vern Albright, and all individuals who are battling blood cancers. My dad and these people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
My dad was first diagnosed with Leukemia in the Summer of 1998. He was doing his annual civic duty of donating blood. When he was rejected initially, the technician told him that testing indicated that he had an iron deficiency. After iron supplements and increased red meat intake, my dad returned to donate blood. This time, the technician indicated that he had problems with his blood and referred him to his family doctor, Dr. Bercaw.
Shortly thereafter, he received the call, “Hi Vern, this is Dr. Bercaw. Are you sitting down? …. You have leukemia.” An appointment was set up with a superb oncologist, Dr. Eric Martin. Immediately, my dad was given blood transfusions, a prescription and then began using “Interferon”. Interferon had to be injected twice daily, and after several weeks my dad’s dangerously low blood counts started to stabilize and then recover.
The side affects of interferon were, in my dad’s words, “appalling”. He felt like he had a constant flu, his joints were in pain, and he felt terrible. This went on for several years and his condition continued to worsen.
Then came the MIRACLE! We heard about a new drug (eventually labeled “Gleevec”) that had showed promise for his rare form of leukemia in clinical trials. Though he was unable to get into the initial testing phase, as soon as the FDA made this the fastest drug ever approved, my dad was one of the first to begin using it under a regular prescription. My dad said, “I was only too glad to get off of the interferon.”
Today, the Gleevec has allowed my dad’s blood counts to return to “normal”. While it is not a “cure” for his cancer (he will have to continue to take Gleevec for the rest of his life), it is the next best thing. The side effects are minimal compared to the interferon, and the worst of it is excessive drowsiness.
But questions remain. My dad asks, “Will my biological system eventually no longer be affected by the same dose of Gleevec?”. Since he is one of the first to take it, no one knows the answer.
THE PROMISE. With the support of TNT, researchers have received money to continue to study Gleevec. Some have made slight changes to the structure of the molecule in hopes that it will be effective on other types of leukemia and other cancers. There is much hope. In my dad’s case, we were lucky that previous research came to fruition just in time. I hope to help others through my Team in Training efforts.
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. I hope you'll visit my web site often, and SHARE IT WITH OTHERS. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress.
Check http://www.mayorsmarathon.com/ for info on the marathon. Thanks for your support!
