Frank Wadel was 37 years old, married, and had a 7 year old daughter and a 5 year old son in early 2012. He knew something was wrong when he was so short of breath that he could not walk around his block without stopping multiple times. After many scans and surgeries on the football-sized mass in Frank’s chest, it was discovered that he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Hodgkin’s disease is one of the cancers that has a relatively high “cure” rate through chemotherapy. Unfortunately, Frank’s lymphoma was an outlier. After 4 different types of chemotherapy and two bone marrow transplants his disease was still present. However, one of the many new therapies that LLS funded was immunotherapy, and after Frank was treated with that, his disease finally went into remission after a 3+-year battle.
Frank is now 41 and is hoping to return to work at some point in the future. He is able to stay home, help around the house, and is trying to get back to 100% physically. For now, he is enjoying more than ever his family, his home, and his health.