Lena Thompson - leukemia survivor

Durham, NC

When Lena was 2 years old, she was a happy student at a small preschool in Durham. She liked to paint and dance. She and her best friend liked to hold hands, and delighted in being the two curly-headed girls in the class. Life was simple.

The next Halloween, she dressed up as a puppy dog. But she couldn't walk, so I carried her from house to house. At the time, I thought she was just tired, but when she felt the same the next morning, I took her to the emergency room at Duke. A week later, they found blue cells in a bone biopsy...cancer. A few days after that, we learned it was leukemia.

Lena has endured many procedures and tests. She has chemo weekly, and has periodic MRIs, CT scans, heart scans, x-rays, and neuro tests. She'll have chemo--harsh medicine that destroys her blood cells and, hopefully, the leukemia cells--for over 2 years, and then have checkups for the rest of her life. She's been in pain a lot, and tired a lot, but she receives excellent care from the oncologists and nurses at Duke.

Currently at about the halfway point of her treatment, Lena has finally reached the Long-Term Maintenance phase. She'll be 6--in March of 2011--when she stops taking chemotherapy. She's able to attend school again, and play more with her friends. She has even recently made a best friend at school! Even though the journey isn't over, we are grateful to have made it this far.

One of the first places we looked for information was LLS. And we found it. We also received a small amount of financial support from LLS, and the parent support group I attend is sponsored by LLS. We are blessed to live in a supportive community. Thank you!

- Valerie & Damon, parents of Lena

Kevin Penn - husband, father, son, brother, friend...and AML survivor

Raleigh, NC

Three weeks after my 37th birthday, I was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).  I knew the road ahead would be difficult, particularly for my wife Kristin, who was five months pregnant, and our son Oliver, who was two.  With my family at my side, I began intensive chemo at Duke University Hospital?s blood cancer ward.  We achieved remission after six months of treatment and many hospital stays, and looked forward to having cancer behind us. 

Blood cancers, unfortunately, are tenacious and cruel, and I relapsed within months of completing treatment.  As a result, I earned a trip to the Duke?s Bone Marrow Transplant group in May of 2009, and then had the tremendous good fortune of being ?matched? to one of my brothers.  My new birthday, as we now call it, is June23, 2009, when I received a complete bone marrow transplant. 

Today, I am 38, in remission, and returning to a ?normal life? ? running after my two sons, riding my bike, and offering thanks daily for my wife?s strength in keeping our family strong during our fight.

I am humbled to be the 2010 ?Honored Patient? for the Eastern North Carolina ?Light the Night? event.  It?s a privilege to represent everyone fighting this disease ? patients, survivors, family members, caregivers, medical professionals, researchers ? they are the real heroes in the fight.  All should be considered ?honored individuals? as we face blood cancers together. I hope to see you at this year's "Light The Night" event as we all walk to find a cure for this awful disease.