A triple threat collaboration among The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), New York Community Bank (NYCB) and WWE surprised Long Island cancer survivor, Luke Lang, with a meet and greet from WWE Superstars Roman ReignsTM, Bobby LashleyTM and Dolph ZigglerTM as NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum hosted WWE Monday Night RAW.
As a longstanding partner with LLS, the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer, New York Community Bank initiated a Random Act of Light by reaching out to their partners at NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum after hearing about Luke’s tough battle with leukemia and love for wrestling. Random Acts of Light supports LLS’s powerful and unique fundraising campaign, Light The Night, and helps bring moments of light to people suffering from blood cancers who are feeling overwhelmed in the darkness that can come with a cancer diagnosis.
Luke Lang, 10, of North Bellmore, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2013, and after three years undergoing chemotherapy he is in remission.
Luke was all smiles meeting Bobby Lashley and Dolph Ziggler. But for his personal favorite, Roman Reigns he could not contain his excitement and mess around a bit. Luke is one brave fighter with an attitude that is simple, losing is not an option. “This experience makes me truly believe that there is hope beyond words and that you never fight alone,” Rich Lang, Luke’s father, says.
“When someone you love hears the words, ‘You have cancer’ it’s one of the darkest moments of your life,” said Sara Lipsky, Executive Director, LLS Long Island Chapter. “We were thrilled to be able to partner with New York Community Bank and the WWE to bring some light to Luke, and we’re so grateful for their generosity.”
LLS launched the Random Acts of Light initiative in 2016 and, to date, more than 40 patients and survivors across the country have been surprised with special moments, including some with favorite athletes and celebrities. This gift of an exclusive one-on-one meet and greet with WWE Superstars and tickets to Monday Night Raw is the perfect addition to this movement to shine the spotlight on the urgent need to fund research to advance new and better cancer treatments and cures, to assist patients in accessing treatment, and to create awareness for the impact of LLS in the cancer arena.
Since it began in 1999, Light The Night has helped LLS invest more than $1.2 billion in research to advance lifesaving treatments and cures for blood cancers. This fall, 140 Light The Night Walks will take place across North America; approximately one million walk participants carry illuminated lanterns – white in honor of survivors and the power of research, red in support of patients and finding cures, and gold in remembrance of those who have been lost.
My name’s Dustin. December 3, 2016 was the date that I was supposed to get married to KT. It was a Saturday. We had that date set for over a year, but there was no wedding—we canceled it the Tuesday before. KT informed most of our guests with an explanatory text: “So, I have some unfortunate news. We’re going to have to call off the wedding this weekend. Dust got cold feet…and leukemia.”
I was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). This disease was a mutation caused by the mutual translocation of chromosomes 15 and 17, resulting in a fusion gene called PML/RARA—look, I don’t know what that means either. I’m not a doctor. (I recently told an aunt and uncle that the doctors gave me a bone marrow biopsy by drilling into my cervix. It was nice to see them laugh that hard.) What I do know is that it is difficult to know the difference between a tragedy and a blessing when a trauma occurs. KT and I spent 33 days in our initial stay in the hospital. I’m glad we never wasted our time with premarital counseling. Premarital cancer answers all the questions a couple could possibly have.
“Do we both know where our important medical and financial documents are located?”
Through hours on the LLS Community forums, health insurance phone calls, and our hospital's patient portal, we're up to speed. Nothing prepares one for disaster like going through a disaster.
“Should we talk about what we will and won’t do with sex?”
When your body is going to be a vat of odd chemicals for the foreseeable future, almost everything falls into the “won’t do” category, but there’s no way to not talk about it.
“Do you believe that we should do everything together?”
One time in the ICU, KT had to direct my sudden urination into a bucket. Now that we’ve literally done everything together, we both know the value of personal space.
“What are your political beliefs?”
KT and I never talked all that much about political topics like universal healthcare while we were dating. Personally, I just made sure me and mine were taken care of. However, over eight months, KT and I sat through 80 infusions of chemotherapy. For those who don't know, sitting for these infusions means sitting next to people from every walk of life with every type of cancer. None of us are the same, but we're all united because we're all experiencing the worst event of our lives. Spend enough time around people whose bodies are killing them (I've come to think of cancer as genetic injustice), and you start to better understand the government as a tool for helping the downtrodden.
“Can we talk about money?”
We started our time in the hospital not caring about money. I was dying, so all we cared about was me getting better. A couple weeks in, though, once we felt stable, we decided to look at our bills. They weren’t pretty. The six hours at REX hospital alone cost $18,000. By time we finished our initial stay in the hospital, our bill was more than a half-million dollars. Thank God for health insurance – which I now believe everyone should have – and the kindness of others.
Even ten years ago, APL was a devastating disease, but because of the kindness of others to fund cancer research through organizations like The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, well, my doctors tell me that I got "the good cancer." KT and I have reevaluated our entire budget, and we've dedicated ourselves to giving back to cancer research. It is a thank you to all those people we didn't know who gave money years ago and helped save my life. We'll most likely never meet, and wouldn't know it if we did, but I can't think of a better way to spend that money, hoping for a better future.
KT and I were married on May 7, 2017. When we sent out our "Save The Date, Again" letters, I wrote this: You pick a wedding date and it gets stuck in your head as this monumental day in your life. My groomsmen's gifts actually have 12-3-16 engraved on them (sorry fellas, but that's not getting corrected). Now that date is different, and we couldn't be happier. 'Come what may' means 'no matter what happens.' And come May 7, the joy of marriage is going to mean so much to us. Getting through a little bit of the worse together means appreciating the better even more.
Dustin will be celebrating 9 months of being cancer free in June, 2018. He released a book on his and KT's one year anniversary, their paper anniversary. To read more about their story go to http://dustinriedesel.com/.
Learn how The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) played a key role in restoring research for all blood cancers as a priority funding area for 2018.
When we think of the federal government’s investments in medical research, we almost always think of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), our nation’s medical research agency. For more than a century, NIH has paved the way for scientific breakthroughs that are helping people live longer, healthier lives.
Federal investments in the NIH have been crucial to helping us understand, prevent and treat cancer. Thanks to more than 2,400 LLS advocates speaking out, Congress allocated nearly $6 billion to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) this year, the principle institute at the NIH for cancer research and training.
NIH has the largest federal footprint for cancer research, but another program at the Department of Defense (DoD) is also doing innovative work to combat cancer. In 1992, Congress established the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at DoD to fill research gaps by funding high-impact, high-risk and high-gain projects. These investments complement the work of the NIH and focus on initiatives to support Service members, their families and the American public.
Since 2009, the CDMRP’s Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) has been the primary program supporting service-connected blood cancer research at the Department of Defense. The PRCRP strives to advance mission readiness of military members affected by cancer by funding innovative basic, applied and translational cancer research.
Because the PRCRP can fund research in all types of cancer, Congress sets priority research topic areas for the program through the annual federal appropriations process. From 2010-2014, “blood cancers” was a prioritized cancer type within the program, providing grants to advance research in leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Unfortunately, funding devoted to “blood cancers” was removed from the program in 2015, but “lymphoma” was added back to the PRCRP as a priority cancer type in 2016 and 2017.
Recognizing the importance of the PRCRP and its history of supporting innovative blood cancer research, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) took the lead in asking Congress to restore all “blood cancers” as a funding priority for the PRCRP. Congress listened to our request. In fact, we were thrilled to see Congress increase funding for cancer research by $20 million—a 33 percent increase over last year—while also restoring “blood cancers” as a priority cancer type for 2018.
LLS now has the opportunity to work on preserving the “blood cancers” priority area for next year. To join our efforts to support strong federal investments in blood cancer research, become an advocate today by visiting lls.org/be-an-advocate.
Luke was all smiles meeting Bobby Lashley and Dolph Ziggler. But for his personal favorite, Roman Reigns he could not contain his excitement and mess around a bit. Luke is one brave fighter with an attitude that is simple, losing is not an option. “This experience makes me truly believe that there is hope beyond words and that you never fight alone,” Rich Lang, Luke’s father, says.
Even ten years ago, APL was a devastating disease, but because of the kindness of others to fund cancer research through organizations like The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, well, my doctors tell me that I got "the good cancer." KT and I have reevaluated our entire budget, and we've dedicated ourselves to giving back to cancer research. It is a thank you to all those people we didn't know who gave money years ago and helped save my life. We'll most likely never meet, and wouldn't know it if we did, but I can't think of a better way to spend that money, hoping for a better future.
