September is National Leukemia & Lymphoma Awareness Month

Three and a half years in and I never knew this. Or, maybe I did and I forgot. Who knows.

September and Leukemia & Lymphoma Awareness Month.

Did you know?

  • About 1,596,670 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2011.
  • In 2011, about 571,950 Americans are expected to die of cancer, more than 1,500 people a day. Cancer is the second most com­mon cause of death in the US, exceeded only by heart disease. In the US, cancer accounts for nearly 1 of every 4 deaths.

Since my main diagnosis is chronic lymphocytic leukemia (secondary is small lymhocytic lymphoma), let’s talk a little about it.

  • An estimated 44,600 new cases of leukemia are expected in 2011.
  • An estimated 21,780 deaths are expected to occur in 2011.
  • Leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood, is classified into four groups according to cell type: acute lymphocytic (ALL), chronic lymphocytic (CLL), acute myeloid (AML), and chronic myeloid (CML).
  • Survival rates vary substantially by leukemia type, ranging from a 5­ year relative survival of 24% for patients diag­nosed with AML to 80% for those with CLL.

People always tell me they don’t know what to say or don’t know what to do, here are a few suggestions.

  • If you area not already, consider becoming a bone marrow donor. Joining the registry is not hard and you could possibly save someones life (maybe me someday:).
  • Or, turn Facebook/Twitter orange to help raise awareness. Snag the graphic below and set it as your profile picture for the month of September.

 

*I claim no credit for either of these graphics, they were both snagged from Google images.*

Thoughts?

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