Why am I doing this? Climbing a mountain in Africa I mean.(Climb2Cure) Because it works. We’ve all heard of Susan G. Koman and the Avon 3-day walk for breast cancer. The Koman organization has, to date, invested more than $2.6 billion in groundbreaking research, community health outreach, advocacy and programs in more than 60 countries. Their efforts helped reduce death rates from breast cancer by 37 percent between 1990-2013.
High profile events attract attention and provide an opportunity to raise awareness. Hopefully, when the devastation of blood cancers becomes well known people will be motivated to donate money for research.
Why am I doing this? Because it happened to me. I was healthy and active. I ate well, enjoyed plenty of fresh air, didn’t smoke. I went from vigorous to near death in the space of one month. No exaggeration, it was a close call. It happened to me. It could happen to you or someone you love.
Why am I doing this? Since enduring the brutal treatment protocol for Acute Myeloid Leukemia I am distraught at the thought of someone else going through that. It is particularly heartbreaking to think of a child suffering through the chemo regimen and dealing with the long term effects.
The survival rate for adults diagnosed with AML is 26 percent. The protocol for AML is exactly the same as it was in 1973. That’s right not a single advancement in over 40 years. We have to do better than that. It comes down to research and that costs money.
Why am I doing This? Because people still die from Lymphoma. That’s supposed to be the treatable blood cancer, but it is still misdiagnosed. We need to raise awareness of blood cancers within the medical community.
I’m climbing Kilimanjaro for selfish reasons too. I’ve always wanted to try it. There is a chance that AML will come back. Since my treatment I am at a higher risk for breast cancer. I will be damned if I end up laying in a hospital bed regretting what I might have done. Some people think it’s a little too early for me to attempt this, but I feel like it’s now or maybe never.
No regrets, Gayle! You are intrepid!