A year ago a beautiful young woman, Alese Coco, lost her fight against Hodgkins Lymphoma. She went through the typical ABVD chemotherapy treatment that my husband, Rich, has just gone through, but she relapsed several months later. She then had a stem cell transplant (this is standard for all HL patients who relapse), followed by intense radiation treatment. Remission for the second time was short-lived, and once again, she relapsed. Currently, there is no cure for HL after a second relapse. There are clinical trials being done, and Alese participated in these; but sadly, they did not help her.
Alese’s family describes her as a young woman who was a strong fighter. She kept score of her relapses and remissions. After her stem cell transplant she declared it Alese: 2 Cancer: 0. And she believed in fighting to win. In a way, she did win. She never stopped living life to its fullest, and she did it fearlessly.
Alese’s family also believes in living life to its fullest, and they have a deep desire to help other HL patients and survivors do the same. Out of this desire, and in Alese’s honor, they have started the Fight 2 Win Campaign. Its purpose is to create a greater awareness of Hodgkins Lymphoma and to raise money to fund further research on the disease. Because it is a relatively rare form of cancer, affecting only about 8,400 people per year in the United States, and considered curable, it does not receive much attention from researchers. However, 3-4 people in the United States die from HL every day. Obviously, more attention is needed.
Please consider checking out the Fight 2 Win Campaign website. And perhaps Alese’s story will touch your heart as it did mine.
by admin
no comments
link to this post email a friend