Another Graduate Story
I promised to share another story or two about people who have taken RIT. This entry is about a man named Jeff who was diagnosed with stage IV follicular lymphoma in August 1998. His doctor recommended watch and wait, but Jeff was uncomfortable with the thought of doing nothing. Instead, he wanted to attack the disease. He sought a second opinion at Dana Farber and there the oncologist mentioned some new treatments that were in clinical trials, and they sounded far more promising than conventional therapy. Still, Jeff was told that he had plenty of time decide on a treatment plan but he was still uncomfortable waiting.
Two months after his diagnosis, in October 1998, one his friends called and told him to turn his TV on to Dateline. Robert Bazell was doing a piece on a revolutionary new treatment for NHL called Bexxar. (Bazell interviewed Bexxar's developer, Dr. Mark Kaminski, as well as two patients who had taken the drug in clinical trials). When the piece was over, Jeff turned to his wife and kids and said, "I'm gonna get that."
That was easier said than done. The drug was still in clinical trials and most of them accepted patients who had already had at least one treatment. Jeff had had nothing. Undaunted, he searched diligently until he found a Phase 3 trial using a combination of 3 cycles of fludarabine followed by Bexxar. And it was Jeff who convinced his oncologist that he wanted to participate in the trial.
In February 1999, Jeff's local oncologist treated him with the fludarabine. In June, he went to the Cornell Medical Center at Presbyterian Hospital in New York for the Bexxar treatment. In September, he learned that he had achieved a complete clinical and molecular remission.
Today, Jeff remains active and healthy and has never needed additional treatment.
Jeff's advice is sound: "Consider your situation unique and a story unto itself that is not destined to follow the conventional path suggested by the clinical community or statistics. Lance Armstrong's story proves that in spades."
And Jeff, my friend, so does yours. Your 8-year disease-free life shines as bright beacon of hope for all of us.
Betsy