AML World Awareness Day

Today is AML World Awareness Day, so it’s only fitting that I provide an update on Danny. But first, here are some facts to help raise your awareness of AML.

• There are 20.4K new cases of AML diagnosed per year.
• It’s one of the most common types of leukemia in adults but is still fairly rare overall, accounting for only about 1% of all cancers.
• The average age of most people when they are first diagnosed is ~68.
• AML was first documented in the 1890s, but doctors don’t know what exactly causes it. They know that AML cells harbor different types of gene mutations and larger changes in chromosomes, but they don’t know why these changes occur or how they each lead to leukemia.
• AML is complex to treat because it has more than 10 major subtypes & other rare mutations.
• Since 2017, a remarkable 16 new therapies for AML have been approved by the FDA – all of them advanced with the support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).
• The LLS Beat AML®️ Master Clinical Trial uses precision medicine to treat AML patients, based on the specific genomic sequence of their blood cancer.
• At least 25% of LLS research supports multi-year grants dedicated to AML.
• And finally, there’s another well-known Handler who had AML… actor Evan Handler (pictured below), best known for his roles in Sex and the City and Californication, was diagnosed at the age of 24. It was the mid 1980s and the treatment options were very limited at the time. He is now 62, and in his own words, “Even though I was told my AML was incurable and insurmountable, I am alive and well.” Click here to read Evan’s story.

Now for an update on the other Handler and my personal favorite Handler, Danny… I’ve got good news and bad news. First, the bad news…

We’re in the hospital right now. This is not a planned stay. Danny had another round of consolidation chemo last week. Yesterday afternoon, he had a fever. The “rule” at our Cancer Care Clinic is that if he has a fever of 100.4 or higher, we are to call them. So, I called and we were instructed to head immediately to the ER.

The reason for this is that fever is often associated with infection, and for AML patients like Danny who have severely compromised immune systems, it can be extremely dangerous to get even the smallest infection. Out of an abundance of caution, the doctor admitted Danny to the oncology floor when he learned that Danny was in the ER. They are keeping him another night for continued observation. Fingers crossed that we go home tomorrow.

On to the good news… two weeks ago, I shared the disappointing news that Danny’s bone marrow donor had bailed out and the April 19 transplant was canceled. I am very happy to report that (cue the confetti) the backup donor has committed and the transplant is rescheduled for May 23!

Lots more to come, so stay tuned. Signing off with love and gratitude!