Latest / This Week in Westchester: The Podcast / Westchester, Explained 29: Lighting the Night in Westchester – Inside the Fight Against Blood Cancer

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Westchester, Explained 29: Lighting the Night in Westchester – Inside the Fight Against Blood Cancer · This Week in Westchester: The Podcast

0:06
SPEAKER_04: Hi Westchester.
0:07
SPEAKER_04: I'm Westchester County Government Communications Director Katherine Chaffee.
0:11
SPEAKER_04: And as an extension of This Week in Westchester, the podcast, we welcome you to Westchester Explained.
0:17
SPEAKER_04: In this episode, we sit down with local representatives from Blood Cancer United to explore the fight against blood cancer and the research, resources, and community support that's helping parents and families right here in Westchester.
0:31
SPEAKER_04: You'll hear powerful personal stories from survivors and families impacted by leukemia and lymphoma while learning how advances in research and treatment are giving people more time and more hope for the future.
0:44
SPEAKER_04: We also take a closer look at Light the Night, the organization's annual event here at Playland Park, where survivors, families, and supporters come together with illuminated lanterns to honor those we've lost, celebrate those who have survived, and continue the fight against blood cancer.
1:01
SPEAKER_04: Join us as we explore why no one facing blood cancer should have to face it alone, because this is Westchester Explained.
1:09
SPEAKER_04: So let's begin.
1:13
SPEAKER_04: So we have um some really exciting guests.
1:16
SPEAKER_04: For me, I'm very excited with our guest today, and I know you will be too.
1:20
SPEAKER_04: Um, here in the podcast studio, we have some amazing representatives from Blood Cancer United, formerly Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and they're here to talk about Light the Night, which is their Hallmark event that happens every year at Bright Play Lid.
1:36
SPEAKER_04: So, first I'm gonna ask you to introduce yourselves.
1:38
SPEAKER_04: We're gonna start right here.
1:40
SPEAKER_02: Hi, uh, my name is Michael Haberman.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: I live in Westchester.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, I am the vice chair of the board of the uh Westchester and Fairfield County Board for Blood Cancer United.
1:50
SPEAKER_02: And I've been walking in like the night uh since 2017.
1:55
SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, my story is my mother passed away from leukemia in 2017, my uncle passed away from leukemia in 2018, and then in 2025, my father passed away from leukemia.
2:06
SPEAKER_02: So we walk in memory of all of them under the team name Haberman's Heroes.
2:11
unknown: Okay.
2:13
SPEAKER_03: Hi I'm Josh Nova.
2:14
SPEAKER_03: I live in actually Westport, Connecticut.
2:16
SPEAKER_03: Glad to be up here in Westchester.
2:18
SPEAKER_03: Um my connection is um I'm a 25-year uh cancer survivor, non-Hodginson diploma.
2:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, and also this year I'm the board chairman of our Westchester Fairfield chapter uh um Blood Cancer United.
2:31
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, every year this Light the Night is, you know, more impressive than the next.
2:36
SPEAKER_03: Um really excited to uh kick it off this year.
2:39
SPEAKER_04: Terrific McKenzie.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: Hi everyone.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: My name is McKenzie Page.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: I'm a senior campaign development manager with Blood Cancer United.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I focus specifically on Light the Night.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: I partner with corporations, schools, friends and family teams who are all walking to support someone or in honor of someone or to support the blood cancer community in general.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: I've been at Blood Cancer United for about two and a half years, and this is just a really incredible community.
3:03
SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited to talk about it today.
3:05
SPEAKER_04: Great.
3:05
SPEAKER_04: And full disclosure, I am personally very involved in this organization.
3:10
SPEAKER_04: Um, I was the MC of The Walk last year, and I am I always mess up my title, McKenzie.
3:16
SPEAKER_04: Corporate walk chair.
3:16
SPEAKER_04: I'm the corporate walk chair.
3:18
SPEAKER_04: Um, and and truthfully I got involved in Blood Cancer United.
3:22
SPEAKER_04: It is because of the county, my job here at the county.
3:24
SPEAKER_04: Um, Mackenzie's heard me tell this story before.
3:27
SPEAKER_04: But um two years ago, actually, I'm sorry, it's three years ago, uh my cousin, uh, my adult cousin was diagnosed with leukemia.
3:34
SPEAKER_04: It was a very random Tuesday, and I was here in the office and heard the news.
3:39
SPEAKER_04: And like uh most people, when you hear news like that, was beyond devastated.
3:44
SPEAKER_04: And uh my my cousin Marisa is a school teacher in the Peakscale School District.
3:49
SPEAKER_04: She's an avid party planner, and she was going through the worst thing that had ever happened to her.
3:55
SPEAKER_04: And in the moment, I said she is at her heart a party planner, and we need something to help her.
4:00
SPEAKER_04: My family needs help, her daughter needs some support.
4:03
SPEAKER_04: And I remembered because of my work here with the county, Light the Night, which is the walk that happens at Rye Playland every year.
4:10
SPEAKER_04: And I thought, light the light the night, that's right.
4:12
SPEAKER_04: And uh they do blood cancer and they uh let me reach out to them and see what they can offer my cousin.
4:18
SPEAKER_04: And uh, you were just a tremendous support system for her and and her daughter.
4:24
SPEAKER_04: And fast forward, um, she started her treatment and I told her about the walk, and I said, we gotta plan this and you're gonna walk out of here, and we're gonna be at the walk and we're gonna fundraise and we're gonna do all these things.
4:34
SPEAKER_04: And it really helped her through her treatment to um to think about the walk and what were we gonna call our team name and who can we ask for money?
4:42
SPEAKER_04: And it was really wonderful.
4:43
SPEAKER_04: And she ended up being at that walk that year.
4:46
SPEAKER_04: Fast forward to today, she is two years out from her stem cell transplant.
4:50
SPEAKER_04: She's doing amazing, she's doing great.
4:53
SPEAKER_04: Um, she's back teaching in Peakskill.
4:55
SPEAKER_04: Um, she's a reading specialist, and you know, life goes on.
5:00
SPEAKER_04: And I couldn't thank you enough, uh, Blood Cancer United, for what you did for her.
5:04
SPEAKER_04: And so I've been involved ever since and I've loved every second of it.
5:07
SPEAKER_04: It's really an incredible organization.
5:09
SPEAKER_04: So let's talk a little bit about blood cancer.
5:12
SPEAKER_04: What does that mean for people who don't know?
5:15
SPEAKER_01: Blood cancers are leukemias, lymphomas, uh, non-Hodgkins disease, multiple myelomas.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: There's actually over a hundred different types of blood cancers that exist, which is part of the reason why we switched our name from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to Blood Cancer United, for it to just be more representative of all the patients that we serve and all the research that we do.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, so there are lots of different treatments that come with a blood cancer diagnosis.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: They're very separate diseases as well.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, Blood Cancer United has been at the forefront of that research for 75 years.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: We were started in 1949 by a family who unfortunately lost their son to leukemia back when it was a death sentence.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: Fast forward 75 years, Blood Cancer United has uh invested more than$1.8 billion in blood cancer research to give people more life, um, more birthdays, more graduations, more special moments in their lives.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: And we've seen that survival rate for these different diseases double in some cases.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, leukemia, like I said, used to be a death sentence.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: Now some forms are curable in the 70% or 90% ranges, which is just a testament to all the research that's been done for so long.
6:27
SPEAKER_04: And your organization does a lot to support families as well, going through this.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: We do.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: So uh we are the largest kind of nonprofit support system for blood cancer patients and their families.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: If somebody is in the, you know, trying to figure out in the midst of what to do after a blood cancer diagnosis, they can call our number where we have trained oncology social workers and nurses on the other end of the line to help them through that diagnosis.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: Basic questions like what are we facing?
6:54
SPEAKER_01: What does a treatment plan look like?
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, can you help me with nutrition guidance?
6:58
SPEAKER_01: Can you help me find some financial aid?
7:00
SPEAKER_01: So we have all these resources available for patients uh nationwide, as well as right here in Westchester County.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: Last year, we supported nearly 800 patients and families who, again, were looking for caregiving resources, peer-to-peer resources, copay assistance, financial aid.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, and we also gave away almost a million dollars in copay assistance last year alone.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: So it's really um a local initiative where we're helping families right in our back door.
7:27
SPEAKER_04: Amazing.
7:27
SPEAKER_04: And you're one of the people that benefited from this research.
7:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
7:30
SPEAKER_04: Can you can you tell us your story?
7:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
7:32
SPEAKER_03: Um, it's 25 years um since I was diagnosed.
7:35
SPEAKER_03: I'm a survivor, it's amazing.
7:37
SPEAKER_03: You know, that statistic that Mackenzie just shared, which is 26 million years of life since this organization got started.
7:46
SPEAKER_03: I'm one of those examples.
7:48
SPEAKER_03: Um, I had a rare form of non-Hodgings lymphoma that spread to my central nervous system.
7:54
SPEAKER_03: I was young at the time, living in New York City, um, 25 years old, like prime of my life.
8:00
SPEAKER_03: Um, and you never expect that kind of diagnosis.
8:03
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I was given pretty much the bathtub of treatments.
8:08
SPEAKER_03: Um, everything was thrown at me.
8:10
SPEAKER_03: Um, the thing that ended up saving me, which is something that, you know, uh Blood Cancer United had been behind, were a couple different new therapies, one of them being a um autologous stem cell transplant, which is when you give your own blood back to your system and they wash it out.
8:25
SPEAKER_03: It's like the whole process is incredible.
8:29
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I was given a shot at maybe five years of survival.
8:33
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
8:34
SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's 25 years.
8:36
SPEAKER_03: So um that statistic, you know, really resonates with me.
8:39
SPEAKER_03: It's incredible what they've done.
8:41
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I got involved, you know, not before I was diagnosed, obviously, but right after I was diagnosed, uh uh went through all the treatments and I was kind of given the clear.
8:50
SPEAKER_03: Um, I was invited to Light the Night in Manhattan um at 26 years old.
8:56
SPEAKER_03: And it was uh I I remember going and just seeing the community of people.
9:00
SPEAKER_03: Uh, I didn't realize like how many people are diagnosed with blood cancers.
9:04
SPEAKER_03: I think it's I saw a stack the other day.
9:06
SPEAKER_03: I think of all cancers, 10% are blood cancer.
9:09
SPEAKER_03: So you know, it's not huge, it's not small, it's it's significant.
9:13
SPEAKER_03: Um and uh probably everybody knows somebody in their network that's been affected by blood cancer.
9:19
SPEAKER_03: Um and I was hooked with on the at the time was called Leukemia Pongo Society.
9:23
SPEAKER_03: Um and I was hooked on the organization immediately because I didn't realize like the extent of their support for patients, obviously, huge, you know, research, uh connecting them with hospitals and information and all those amazing resources.
9:39
SPEAKER_03: Research, the amount of research that they put in over the last 75 years is like I think over a billion dollars.
9:45
SPEAKER_03: Um and the impact of that billion dollars has just been you know huge, right?
9:50
SPEAKER_03: Like all kinds of new therapies that people might be familiar with from the stem cell transplants to immunotherapies, um, to cartel C, you know, Blood Cancer United and the donors and the volunteers and everybody that goes to these light the nights that donates money have had that impact on helping develop those drugs that have saved lives um and have extended lives.
10:11
SPEAKER_03: So um now I'm the you know the board chairman, which is you know just a title.
10:16
SPEAKER_03: We have an incredible board here in New York with Michael, who's in the room with us.
10:20
SPEAKER_03: Um and it's just you know, we're a bunch of passionate survivors, people that are connected to the disease, that just want to make sure that the next 26 million live uh years that are given back, you know, continues on.
10:32
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely that'll eventually be eliminated.
10:34
unknown: Yeah.
10:34
SPEAKER_04: And Michael, you're wearing your blood cancer united light and night t-shirt today.
10:37
SPEAKER_04: I'm wearing my light and night shirt.
10:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you could get.
10:40
SPEAKER_04: Can you?
10:41
SPEAKER_04: I mean, you are so close to the to blood cancer because of what your family has gone through.
10:47
SPEAKER_04: Um, talk to me about the walk and why you decided to do more.
10:52
SPEAKER_04: Because it's one thing when you have a loved one go through cancer and they pass away, you can you could leave it at that, or you couldn't get involved and you chose to get involved.
10:59
SPEAKER_04: Tell me about that.
11:00
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I will.
11:02
SPEAKER_02: I just want to say one thing that I I just find a startling statistic.
11:05
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I've actually run and worked at nonprofits in previous lives, but Blood Cancer United has a statistic that of the advancements that have been made in the past 75 years, they've played a role in 70% of those advancements.
11:18
SPEAKER_02: That's unbelievable.
11:19
SPEAKER_02: So I tell people all the time when I'm raising money, like, this is really making a difference.
11:23
SPEAKER_02: This isn't theoretical.
11:24
SPEAKER_02: This isn't bureaucracy really making making a difference.
11:27
SPEAKER_04: Can I add one thing in on that note?
11:30
SPEAKER_04: Because something that Mackenzie told me that I that really stuck with me is that yes, there is a lot of research happening for blood cancers, but blood cancer research also impacts research as it pertains to other cancers.
11:43
SPEAKER_04: Um, so it's not an organization that of course supports blood cancer, but also so many others.
11:49
SPEAKER_04: And there are just so many.
11:50
unknown: Yeah.
11:51
SPEAKER_02: Well, we're part of that whole, you know, cancer cancer ecosystem where we all have our individual focus, but we're all, you know, focusing on cancer overall.
11:59
SPEAKER_02: But for me, you know, unfortunately, my parents didn't survive 25 years and hopefully another 30 years uh for Josh.
12:05
SPEAKER_02: But um, they did live longer than they would have years ago, right?
12:08
SPEAKER_02: So my mother was diagnosed at 69 and lived to 73, and my father was diagnosed at around 80 and died at 85.
12:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, so we got a lot more time with them than we would have in the past.
12:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, but when my mother passed away, um, I've told this story uh many times and I usually get choked up, but my mother was not a religious Jewish person, but she was a spiritual person.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: And central to Judaism is something called kunalant, repair the world, right?
12:36
SPEAKER_02: And my mother always instilled us that in us make the world a better place than you found it.
12:40
SPEAKER_02: And so when she passed away, we felt like what better way to honor her, to remember her than to do this.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: And then, of course, the same with my uncle and now with my dad.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: And so um, it is a really meaningful.
12:53
SPEAKER_02: My my cousins come, my aunts and uncles come, you know, we walk as a a big team and of course we raise a lot of money, but it's a time to do something, but it's also a minute for us in our daily, you know, busy lives to sort of stop and reflect and remember our parents and and uncle.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, and so, you know, that's why we do it.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: It's just um, you know, how can we make the world a little bit better?
13:15
SPEAKER_04: Right, right.
13:16
SPEAKER_04: Now that's a that's a beautiful way to remember your mom for sure.
13:20
SPEAKER_04: Um, what are the details of the walk this year?
13:22
SPEAKER_04: Do you want to share with everyone?
13:24
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: So Light the Night is back at Playland Park or Rye Playland.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: We're so excited.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: Um on October 17th from 5 to 8 p.m., it's a nighttime walk.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: We have illuminated lanterns.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: Everyone who comes gets a lantern.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that lantern tells their story.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: So if you've you're walking as a cancer survivor, you hold a white lantern.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you're walking in honor of somebody who passed away, you hold a gold lantern.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: And if you're walking as a supporter, which is the majority of us, you carry a red lantern.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, so the whole group of people comes together October 17th, does the walk around uh on the boardwalk on the Long Island Sound.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: It's less than a mile.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people get scared, they think it's a 10K they're signing up for.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: It's not.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: It's very doable.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: It's very sweet.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: It's very scenic as well.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: It's very scenic, very beautiful.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they raise their lanterns uh to honor those we've lost, to make people feel a little bit less alone, um, to bring more support for families.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: So the actual event itself, um, like I said, is from 5 to 8 p.m.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: It's very family friendly.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: We have kids' events, uh, we have food trucks, we have different booths to stop by.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a it's even pet friendly.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: We have an opening ceremony that's really beautiful where cancer survivors come into the circle of survivors and raise that white lantern.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: And I meet a lot of kids in this job because kids with cancer, a quarter of them, have blood cancers.
14:42
SPEAKER_01: So um, when you see some of these kids who are around other kids or adults that are experiencing the same thing and they feel like they're a little bit less alone, it's really special.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: That's the moment that stops the whole night for me, is when people are raising those lanterns.
14:55
SPEAKER_04: Right.
14:55
SPEAKER_04: It's um, I will tell you that it is from the stage.
15:00
SPEAKER_04: I mean, being in the and being in the crowd, it is an overwhelming experience.
15:03
SPEAKER_04: From the stage, it is incredibly overwhelming to see so many lanterns.
15:07
SPEAKER_04: And, you know, just to tell a small side story, um, you know, obviously I I you can tell maybe by my last name, I come from a big Italian-American family, and my cousin was diagnosed, and you know, we all go to the walk to support her, and all of a sudden they're handing out survivor t-shirts.
15:24
SPEAKER_04: So everybody who's a cancer survivor gets a t-shirt, gets a white lantern.
15:28
SPEAKER_04: And we're looking at our family and we're realizing that there's many people in our family who are cancer survivors.
15:34
SPEAKER_04: There are many people who passed away, unfortunately, as well.
15:36
SPEAKER_04: But among the first cousins, there, there's a lot of them.
15:39
SPEAKER_04: My husband is a cancer survivor, my sister-in-law is a cancer survivor, our a lot of our first cousins are survivors.
15:45
SPEAKER_04: And to see this crowd of my family members, all with white lanterns, all of a sudden it hits you like, what have we been going through?
15:51
SPEAKER_04: What is happening?
15:52
SPEAKER_04: It's it's a very beautiful, overwhelming, all the feelings, all the feelings at once.
15:57
SPEAKER_04: So it's a really special night.
16:00
SPEAKER_04: Um, if go ahead.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: Sorry, if I I was just in chime in.
16:03
SPEAKER_02: It's also just um everything Mackenzie said.
16:05
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's one of the most special nights out on the water, but it's just an amazing community of, you know, two of our, you know, anchors in Westchester, MasterCard and Regenera, and like great massive sponsors of it.
16:17
SPEAKER_02: But you go there, you're gonna see your friends, you're gonna see your neighbors.
16:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I I I remember the first time we met, um, Catherine and I have a mutual friend who's like, you have to meet, you work in politics, you were to and we never met.
16:29
SPEAKER_02: And we met at that breakfast because it has to be to be at set table with her with Marissa.
16:33
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, you're so it's just such a it's such a great community event where you're gonna just come out and see people you know and see community leaders that you know, and so it's just so special.
16:43
SPEAKER_04: Right.
16:43
SPEAKER_04: And I think what's great about it too is like, yes, there is there is something so there's tragic, right?
16:48
SPEAKER_04: There's been tragedy, but it's it's very hopeful.
16:51
SPEAKER_04: It's very, very hopeful.
16:52
SPEAKER_04: Do you find that when you're there?
16:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, like the first time I went, like I said, it was in New York City.
16:57
SPEAKER_03: It was like on a boat, and it was the most amazing thing to be surrounded by a community.
17:02
SPEAKER_03: And then I hadn't been to one in years because I'd moved around the country, the world.
17:06
SPEAKER_03: We came back up back and balled the came uh with Cancer United.
17:10
SPEAKER_03: And my first one that I was able to go to was last year, which was a special one with the Regeneron um drone.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Drone that we'll be back.
17:18
SPEAKER_03: Is it coming back?
17:19
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it is.
17:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, and it was actually the first time I uh was able to, you know, take the white balloon and and be around that group of people.
17:27
SPEAKER_03: Um, and it was, I mean, I couldn't, it it was I can't it's hard to describe as a survivor to be around that kind of energy.
17:35
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I, you know, it was yeah, it was like the most amazing thing.
17:40
SPEAKER_03: And to know that, you know, obviously there's tragedy in in all these cancers, but to know that, you know, there's so much hope going on with the course of cancer treatments, you know, whether it's blood cancers or breast cancers, so many cancers are progressing right now.
17:54
SPEAKER_03: And to, you know, then gather around and see, you know, the progress through people's children and and and survivors is just it's an indescribable kind of feeling to be around the young people.
18:04
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
18:05
SPEAKER_04: What do you think, Mackenzie?
18:07
SPEAKER_04: Um, or for all of you actually, what is the biggest misconception about blood cancer?
18:13
SPEAKER_03: I would say that's a it's a great question.
18:16
SPEAKER_03: And there's uh I think a couple of things I would say about it.
18:18
SPEAKER_03: One is, you know, with with uh with children's blood cancers, which are primarily leukemias, um I think a lot of people probably think that, you know, like my cancer, non-high lot less uh toxic treatments now, all these immunotherapies, it's not really the case uh with childhood cancers.
18:37
SPEAKER_03: Um we have a whole initiative at Blood Cancer United that's really focused on solving this issue with you know what types of treatments these kids are getting, better therapies.
18:47
SPEAKER_03: Um that's one thing, you know.
18:48
SPEAKER_03: I think people should know that, you know, while the survival rates are getting better for certainly for children as well, there's a there's a long way to go in that area.
18:56
SPEAKER_03: And there needs to be a lot more focus, and that's a spotlight, certainly, that Blood Cancer United has been putting on it through research and funding and gathering people together for conferences and and drug development and and just making sure children aren't forgotten in this.
19:08
SPEAKER_03: Um so you know, that's one thing.
19:10
SPEAKER_03: Um, and the other one is, you know, I I I think people just don't understand, you know, you know solid tumor cancers like you know, a breast cancer are a lot different than um these blood cancers, which are you know, they it is what it is what it sounds like.
19:24
SPEAKER_03: It's a cancer that's like traveling around your blood.
19:26
SPEAKER_03: It's hard to pin down.
19:28
SPEAKER_03: It's hard to pick it up.
19:28
SPEAKER_03: Um whereas you know, these solid tumors are look, you know, I'm not saying one, you know, harder uh different than the other.
19:34
SPEAKER_03: It's all terrible.
19:35
SPEAKER_03: They're all yes, they're all terrible.
19:36
SPEAKER_03: Um, but but I think a lot of people understand that blood cancers, you know, it's traveling around your circulatory system, it could spread so you know at any point in time.
19:43
SPEAKER_03: Um and so like you have to keep a pace of um investing in this in this particular cancer.
19:49
SPEAKER_03: Um and I think that's you know, one of the most amazing things that Blood Cancer United does is just the amount of money that they're putting into research continually and the types of programs that they've invested in that has success.
20:00
SPEAKER_03: Like I told you, like I was saying earlier, the CAR T cell therapy and these specialized you know, immunotherapies.
20:07
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, we've been behind it.
20:08
SPEAKER_03: But I think people just need to know that, you know, there's there's more to go.
20:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, that there's a lot of hope uh in the this disease and a lot of these other diseases.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: Mackenzie.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: That was great, Josh.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing that.
20:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think one thing that comes to mind is they're all of these diseases are so different in that some people might be going through this and they could be cured, um, quote unquote, and kind of move forward.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: Other people will have this disease chronically for their entire lives.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: But because of the work of Blood Cancer United, they're able to live their lives.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that was not always the case.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: I have a volunteer who um was diagnosed out of the blue um with CLL, a type of leukemia.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: And um, today she's very healthy, doing very well, has a baby, which was not always something that could be in the heart for a cancer survivor going through treatments and she takes a pill every day, and that's her treatment.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: And that is made possible because of all this investment in research.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: Um, so just that there's so many different outcomes that can come from um from blood cancers, and some people continue, will continue to live with it for the rest of their lives.
21:18
SPEAKER_04: How about you, Mike?
21:18
SPEAKER_04: What do you think?
21:19
SPEAKER_02: Um I would say the biggest misconception is it's not gonna happen to me.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
21:24
SPEAKER_02: And I think if you ask around, um, so many people are touched.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: Listen, my mother was the healthiest person you ever knew.
21:32
SPEAKER_02: She literally was at the Museum of Natural History the day before she went into the hospital, walking, you know, eight miles, perfectly healthy.
21:39
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm my one of my very closest friends from college this year just finished treatment for uh lymphoma.
21:45
SPEAKER_02: We were out to dinner on a Saturday night, and on Thursday he told us he was starting treatment for cancer.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: So I'll be walking for Judd this year again, fortunately in honor of him, not in memory of him.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think that's the the thing that people think it won't happen to me.
21:58
SPEAKER_02: And I probably thought that as well until.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: until it did happen, it happened to me.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: It's just so, you know, so prevalent.
22:05
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, but the good thing is we can do something about it.
22:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:09
SPEAKER_02: Right.
22:09
SPEAKER_02: That it's something we can do about it.
22:10
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
22:12
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
22:12
SPEAKER_04: So let's tell people.
22:13
SPEAKER_04: Well something that I actually, before we get to that, I want to point out, because I think the the biggest misconception about cancers is that cancer in general and and blood cancer is certainly part of that is that it's something that you go through alone and you do not, you do not have to go through it alone.
22:27
SPEAKER_04: And your Blood Cancer United has certainly been there for so many patients.
22:30
SPEAKER_04: So I would encourage anybody if you are going through cancer, if it is a blood cancer, please, please reach out to Blood Cancer United because they can do so much to offer a support.
22:41
SPEAKER_04: Can we give some contact information if people want to get in touch with Blood Cancer, either because they are going through it or they want to donate?
22:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: So like I mentioned earlier, we offer free support education resources to patients and families.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: We have a 1-800 number that people can call seven days a week to get information, whether it's trained oncology social workers on the other end of the line.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: So that number is 1-800-955-4572.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: That's 1-800-955-4572.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: That's our information resource center and that is um the first place where people can find resources for everything that we do if they're in need of them.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: To get involved with Light the Night I encourage you to go to lightthenight.org and that's where you can find a local Light the Night near you where you can find the Rye Playland walk on 1017.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: We hope to see you there.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: And there's really so many different ways to get involved.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: You can walk with us you can volunteer you can start a team you can fundraise alongside us so that we have you know we can give more years of life for all for this entire community.
23:49
SPEAKER_04: And we have to just say that last year you raised you and the organization at the walk through the walk raised$1.2 million which is amazing which is amazing.
24:01
SPEAKER_04: And and again for research for supporting families for having more outcomes like yours.
24:06
SPEAKER_04: And that's just such a beautiful beautiful thing.
24:08
SPEAKER_03: Can I make a note on that 1800 number?
24:10
SPEAKER_03: You know 1800 number sounds like is anybody actually pick up I will tell you like people pick up immediately and I'll one one anecdote is you know this summer the this neighbor I grew up with called me out of Luca she knew I was a survivor and you know sadly she told me that her son was just diagnosed with a leukemia.
24:28
SPEAKER_03: And she's like what do I do?
24:29
SPEAKER_03: And I was like well let me give you my perspective you know from a you know a 50 year old now but probably better for him to speak and you to speak to Blood Cancer United.
24:38
SPEAKER_03: And I gave her the number and she called and it was I mean she called me back you know several days later she's like thank you so much for giving me that number they were incredible.
24:47
SPEAKER_03: You know the things that they do like one is they can help you navigate like the you know all the information that's get that being thrown at you.
24:53
SPEAKER_03: They can help you like assess doctors or clinics to go to all this rich information yeah that comes at you and they basically they they give you like I guess kind of like a case manager.
25:03
SPEAKER_03: Like once you are in the system if you want to engage with Blood Cancer United they will engage with you.
25:08
SPEAKER_03: They will help you out.
25:09
SPEAKER_03: So it is a number that's you know on the other side very warm, knowledgeable people that that are there to help.
25:16
SPEAKER_04: That's great.
25:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah can I just say something related to light the night with that as you said like you're not alone what's amazing about like the light the night walk if you're out there listening and you're thinking oh I want to do this can I really raise money um the support the organization will provide is amazing.
25:30
SPEAKER_02: I think Josh and I think Mackenzie works 247 where she seems to know every one of the feels like she just told me on the way in that she would just emailing with my son because he wanted to look his fundraising.
25:42
SPEAKER_02: So um if you want to do it Bloodcantry United will help you be successful at it and whether you raise$50 or$500 or something.
25:49
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah it all it all matters but um once you sign up you know you'll you'll find you'll figure out how to get to McKenzie and team it just I'll get to you once you sign up.
26:01
SPEAKER_04: You'll find you yes um well thank you so much for joining us today we hope those listening I hope you join us at Light the Night at Playland Park in October and yeah thank you so much for being here with us.
26:14
SPEAKER_02: Thank you Catherine for everything you do for all that visit so much yeah we appreciate it.
26:19
SPEAKER_04: Happy to thank you Catherine happy things thank you