Fresno Walk

Dave Cowles

David's journey on the cancer trail began in 2005 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  A series of radiation treatments proved to be successful and his PSA results were subsequently lower after finishing the radiation.  His next bout with cancer came in the form of Smoldering Multiple Myeloma, diagnosed in 2009.  This is an inactive form of Multiple Myeloma and would remain inactive, according to test results.  Finally, in September of 2009, he was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and treated with the drug Gleevec, which was very effective in controlling this disease.  On one occasion, he ended up in the hospital after a severe adverse reaction, including Congestive Heart Failure, to an alternate drug for his Leukemia.  His doctor then placed him back on Gleevec and he remained on this medication.  David also battled anemia, which requred transfusions about every two months to keep his hemoglobin out of the danger range.  While he did not really look forward to having these periodic transfusions, he always felt better afterward.

David's course of illness finally culminated in his sudden and unexpected death on the 21st of March, 2011 as he was preparing to have yet another transfusion.  After feeling faint and severely lightheaded, he collapsed before the transfusion could begin and finally passed away after about an hour of attempts to stabilize and reactivate his heart.  In addition to the ongoing anemia and leukemia, Congestive Heart Failure was determined to have played a role in this final episode.  This came as quite a shock to all of his family and friends, as he had been among them only the day before, attending church and playing the piano and looking fairly healthy.

 David was a man of deep Christian faith and realized that every day of his life was a gift from God.  He wanted to take advantage of every opportunity he had in the present to serve God in the ways he had been gifted and equipped.  He never took for granted that he would have another year in which to minister in any of the ways he enjoyed, namely preaching for the Monday morning service at Sunrise Assisted Living or playing favorite hymns on the piano at Lifeway Baptist Church on Sunday mornings.  He had a gift for teaching which he was able to use in the service at Sunrise.  he possessed a passion for living and would often read up on and reasearch new developments in the treatment of leukemia as they became available.  David was also aware, however, that his illnesses were to be regarded seriously and treated as aggressively as possible.  he was blessed to have a concerned and caring oncologist and the services provided by the local chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  He would have wanted to participate in this year's Light the Night activities, as he did in 2010 as a survivor.  However, he will be remembered in the memorial segment of the night's program, having "fought the good fight, finished the course and kept the faith."

 

Bakersfield Walk

Ian Puskarich 

On the morning of October 4th, 2009, Ian woke up with a pain in his right leg. We thought maybe he twisted his ankle or knee and it was a little tender. As the day went on, however, we knew it was something more

serious because Ian wouldn't walk or stand on it at all. We took him to the urgent care that evening for x-rays, and it looked like maybe he had a small fracture just below his knee, but there was something a little strange about it. That's what every doctor who saw Ian for the next week kept saying. "Something doesn't look right." We progressed from X-rays to CTs to MRIs. They initially thought it was Osteomylitis, an infection in the bone that caused it to fracture, so they started him on an antibiotic called Rocephin. Little did we know that Ian is allergic to all cephalosporin antibiotics, including Rocephin. After going into anaphylactic shock, we ended up in the emergency room at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. That's when we finally got a good MRI image of what was going on in his leg. The image showed a dark oval shaped mass, 1.5cm x 2.5cm. Two days later Ian was in the operating room, supposedly getting the mass removed. The surgeon, however, didn't like what he saw when he opened up the bone and instead took a biopsy of the mass. Four days later we still had no answers, but they told us we were being transferred to the Kaiser hospital in Hollywood for further evaluation. When we got there, an oncologist greeted us. That's when we knew. Ian was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Pre-B Cell

Leukemia. His treatment was intense at first. After having a portacath installed in his chest (a catheter under the skin where he receives his injections), he started weekly chemotherapy at his doctor's office in Hollywood and

intrathecal (spinal fluid) injections monthly. After about 8 months, he progressed to the maintenance phase, and is now on monthly intravenous chemotherapy, with intrathecal injections every three months. Through all that, he also developed another food allergy (we already knew he was allergic to eggs). He had a severe reaction to cashews, ambulance ride and all, so now we stay away from all tree nuts. At the 1 year mark, Ian was allowed to start pre-school. He hadn't been around other kids for a year, and he was excited to make new friends. This fall we're going to start T-ball. Ian loves baseball and is looking forward to it. If all goes well, Ian will have his last treatment on December 31, 2012.

Bakersfield Walk

Barby Dumont

My name is Barby Dumont.    I am a lymphoma survivor.  This is my story.

In 1982, while I was pregnant with my son, I became ill and symptomatic with what turned out to be lymphoma.   The symptoms were masked by the pregnancy, but after delivery I continued to lose weight and got a fever that just wouldn?t go away.   I was already having night sweats.    When my son was a month old, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin?s Lymphoma, a stage IIIB.    It was a difficult time of chemotherapy and a new born baby at home.   I went into remission 9 months later.

Five years later, in 1988, I discovered another lump my neck and it was NHL
(Non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma).   My son was 5 years old.   Again, the chemotherapy
And the radiation regime.    It was another big battle, to say the least.  

Well, my son is now 28 years old, and I was able to raise my child, which was my greatest wish.  It has been my pleasure to volunteer for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in anyway that I can - I never dreamed I?d be alive to do this today.  It has also been my honor to fundraise and participate in 3 marathons for LLS as my way of giving back.  This is my second year participating in Light the Night.  

Thank you to all of your for supporting Light The Night!!!   We have to beat this
monster, and WE WILL!  Hope to see you out at the Market Place on October 16th!

Yours for the cause,
Barby

Bakersfield Walk

Ryan Wilson 

Ryan was always our 'healthy horse', as we liked to call him. He very rarely got sick was the picture of health until one day in November 2008 when he was 17 months old. He spiked a fever and was in severe pain. He had a blood test taken and we were blindsided by the results.  Ryan had the most common form of leukemia, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), and the odds were really great for a full recovery.  They just had one more test to take, but not to worry because the odds of that being positive were extremely rare. When Ryan's tests came back positive for Philadelphia Chromosome ALL, we were devastated. Only 3% of all ALL leukemia patients are tested positive for it. The outlook did not look good.  Ryan participated in a worldwide study for the medication Dasatinib, which was a new drug that directly targeted the PH Chromosome. His results were amazing. He went from an initial 90% leukemia to less than .01% in his marrow. Since Ryan had a leukemia that was notorious for relapse, Ryan was recommended for a bone marrow transplant. Ryan's twin sister, Lauren was a perfect.  Ryan received his sisters bone marrow on March 18th, 2009 . We celebrated our one-year anniversary of the transplant and has Ryan's port removed the day before his 3rd birthday, he is doing great.