Last night we attended the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society "Light the Night" fundraiser in Durham. Marty, Deb, and Alex join us there with several friends adding donations to our team to benefit all of the good work that is done by the society for research and patient advocacy. Last year I was out of the hospital on the night they held the event, but my cell counts were too low to out and about with the public. It felt good to be able to join in this year, walking with a lit balloon-mine white since I am a survivor, while Holly and Alex had red ones as supporters. The event was much more somber than the Breast Cancer events I've attended. For one, it was notable how few white survivor balloons there were compared to red supporter balloons. Fortunately there are fewer blood cancers diagnosed each year, but the survival rates are much lower than for breast cancer. It certainly hit home seeing the paucity of white balloons compared to red ones at this event. I could go on and on about how lucky it made me feel. I could extoll my appreciation to everyone who supported me last night & the last year whether you were there or not. And I could assure all of you that I am happy for every additional day I get to be here. One survivor who had the same cancer I had last year spoke to the gathering just before we left for the 2 mile walk around Durham. He said that he didn't feel much like a hero which someone had called him. But then he realized that he was "Here -Oh," and that seemed to fit. Well thankfully I am "Here- Oh" too.
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