Meet Paige Wiebler

The North Texas Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is thrilled to introduce its newest addition to the Special Events team.  Meet Paige Wiebler.  She is a campaign specialist in the Dallas office and will be focusing her efforts on the Student of the Year campaign and the Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament.  Read below as this energetic woman introduces herself. 

"Hello!

Where to begin? I was born and raised in the great state of Iowa where a piece of my heart will always be. After graduating college this past May, my urge to live, travel and gain experiences from other parts of the country – potentially the world – grew to take predominance over the love of my Midwestern roots. And just like that I landed in Dallas.

I attended Iowa State University (go Cyclones!) where I was a member of Chi Omega sorority. I also became involved with the Women’s Club Soccer Team and multiple philanthropic initiatives benefiting organizations such as Make-A-Wish, Special Olympics, and the American Cancer Society. I might be bias but I couldn’t imagine a better place, filled with even better people, on a more beautiful campus to have spent the past four years.

I come from a very large blended family and I adore all of them down to the very last one (Even my youngest brother Reid, who would probably disagree!). The amount of support and love I receive from them no matter where life takes me means everything. 

When I was in the fourth grade my father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  Chemotherapy, radiation and a stem cell transplant were all among the treatments he received during his long, difficult, courageous battle.  Now the most beautiful guardian angel, my dad, is my inspiration to join LLS in the fight to end all blood cancers.

Fun Facts About Me:

- I could eat Mexican food for every meal

- I’m obsessed with all T.V. series created by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder)

- I’d be lost (literally) without my GPS

- Country music is my go to and I’ve been to more concerts than I can count

- Coffee is my saving grace

- My next travel destination is somewhere in Europe

I couldn’t be more excited to join the Special Events team here at LLS.  As an organization so incredibly close to my heart, I can’t wait to start making a difference with you all!" 

We are happy to have Paige as part of the North Texas family.  Reach out and introduce yourself.  She can be contacted at Paige.Wiebler@lls.org or (972) 996-5916.  

Honored Hero Run: A Hero Has a Heart

"A Hero Has a Heart" is the theme of the 2015 Honored Hero Run to benefit the North Texas Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).  The girl behind the theme, 10-year-old Katie Grace, knows firsthand that it takes heart to beat a blood cancer diagnosis.  She was diagnosed with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) while she was in fifth grade.

After diagnosis Katie's doctors laid out a plan that involved a month of chemotherapy with the goal of getting her into remission after 30 days, to be followed by 2.5 years of maintenance treatments.  When she failed to respond as doctors had anticipated, she was placed in the "very high risk" category.  This classification meant higher doses of chemo, radiation and a bone marrow transplant.  Katie's family was devastated.

One month later the news improved.  After more than a month on this physically and emotionally trying treatment plan, doctors declared Katie was in remission and she could move forward with a bone marrow transplant.  Luckily for her, a donor already on the bone marrow registry was a 100% match and she was able to have her transplant with no delay.  Katie's family is thankful for her health as she continues to grow stronger every day and her body continues to respond favorably to the bone marrow transplant.

When the Honored Hero Run Board of Directors saw her entry for the 2015 t-shirt competition, they knew they had found their winner.  Her creation (shown at the bottom of this post) will be featured on all of the participant and volunteer race shirts as well as on the official Honored Hero Run website.

The Honored Hero Run is only eight days away but there is still time to register.  The money raised from this race will be used to help improve the quality of treatment that young patients, like Katie, receive after a blood cancer diagnosis.

Patricia Thomson: Bloodletting, Cupping, Leaching and Purging

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is a proud supporter of Ken Burns presents "CANCER: THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES", a film by Barak Goodman, a vivid account of how far we've come in the fight against cancer.  North Texas Executive Director Patricia Thomson, Ph.D., provides a preview of the three party mini-series to be shown on PBS later tonight.

"In the mid nineteenth century, according to the author, 'bloodletting, cupping, leaching and purging were common procedures' for the treatment of diseases and infections.  Sterile techniques was absent with surgical sutures being made out of catgut and left to hang out in the open air, scalpels hanging out of pockets and blood-soiled tools dusted off before surgery.  Fast forward 50 years through the introduction of anesthesia, the evolution of the radical mastectomy, the development of x-ray technology and the production of synthetic chemicals.  Although these developments were a far cry from the older methods, they still brought their own baggage and some.  Anesthesia allowed the more intense and radical surgeries to occur however removal of tumors in many cases was only a piece of the puzzle.  Permanent disfigurement and chronic pain were often the result along with relapse and death from the original disease.  Advancement to more sophisticated treatment would only come through the understanding of how cancer was caused and how it spread. 

We shall so poison the atmosphere of the first act that no one of decency shall want to see the play through to the end – James Watson, speaking about chemotherapy in 1977.

Unbelievable as it may sound, chemotherapy got its origin from the use of mustard gas in the 1940s. It’s ability to totally scorch and deplete the bone marrow in its victims captivated scientists.   As expected, the first patients treated were acute leukemia patients and most were children.  Imagine the parents of a sick child being told that their child would be treated with mustard gas to cure them of their cancer.  Those children are the true heroes of our time.  They paved the way for more modern, less invasive and successful therapies. 

Chemotherapy took it’s place as the main form of treatment for blood cancer in the 40's and 50’s.  While remissions would extend longer and longer for patients, relapses were inevitable.  The early years were brutal for patients and their families.  Here is a riveting excerpt from the book regarding a women from the 50’s and her observations at the world renowned Farber clinic:  'Once I discover that almost all the children I see are doomed to die within a few months, I never cease to be astonished by the cheerful atmosphere that generally prevails.  True, upon closer examination, the parent’s eyes look suspiciously bright with tears shed and unshed.  Some of the children’s robust look, I find, are owing to one of the anti-leukemia drugs that produces swelling of the body.  And there are children with scars, children with horrible swellings on different parts of their bodies, children missing a limb, children with shaven heads, looking pale and wan, clearly as a result of recent surgery, children limping or in wheelchairs, children coughing, and children emaciated.'  She really paints a vivid and stark picture of cancer treatment 50 to 60 years ago.

Fast forward to the present, chemotherapy has come a long way, more refined and more specific to the patient and the cancer diagnosis.   It still is, however, an invasive type of therapy often resulting in long term effects, no cure, and even death.  Immunotherapy, genetically engineered killer cells, early diagnostic tools and personalized medicine is the new wave of therapies and preventive tools producing promising results and a bright future for the treatment of cancer in our lifetime.  

I hope you will join us in watching the upcoming “Cancer – The Emperor of All Maladies on PBS TONIGHT, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Set your DVRs!

Patricia"

Save the Date:

The three day documentary will air on PBS from 9-11p on March 30th and 31st and April 1st.  We hope that you will tune in.  

LLS supporters will be pleased to find that a number of the major advancements made in the fight against blood cancers highlighted in this documentary came through the work of LLS-funded researchers.