They say, “Teamwork makes the dream work” and the 2016 Light The Night Salesforce team’s March to a Million initiative has proved this is true. As LLS’s longtime Light The Night partner, the team of more than 1,880 participants from across the U.S. went above and beyond this year to fight blood cancer. Not only did they meet their $1 million dollar fundraising goal, but Salesforce has generously offered to match it— bringing their total amount raised to more than $2 million for LLS’s goal to create a world without blood cancers!
Local Salesforce Light The Night teams have been taking steps to end cancer at various walk locations throughout the country this fall. They kicked-off their National team walk at The AT&T Park in San Francisco on November 10. Even though they’ve already reached their million dollar fundraising goal, they are still working hard to raise as much as they can until the end of the calendar year.
As part of their powerful fundraising campaign, Salesforce created a video which features three members of their team who have been deeply impacted by cancer.
John, AML survivor
John remembers November 5, 2010 very clearly, it was the day his doctor told him he had one of the most deadly forms of blood cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML). He was immediately sent to the hospital to begin treatment. Unknown to John and his wife, he would remain in the hospital for the following two months— literally fighting for his life. His two young boys were in diapers at the time, so his wife had to manage all of their needs, on top of being John’s primary caregiver
Today, thanks to LLS-funded research, John can proudly say he is a cancer survivor. John is now a Team Captain for the Salesforce international Light The Night team and uses his role to help other patients and drive support until a cure is found.
Ali, breast cancer survivor
On March 6, 2015, Ali was newly married and happily planning her future when she received news that would change her life forever—she had breast cancer. She had no family history of cancer and the diagnosis came as a complete shock.
Today, Ali is cancer free, but wants to spare others from experiencing a cancer diagnosis. She has been with Salesforce since 2011 and proudly holds her white lantern high to celebrate her survivorship. She knows that LLS invests in lifesaving research that impacts not only blood cancer, but other cancers and chronic diseases as well.
Nicole, account executive
Nicole’s Aunt Bridgette who she called “Aunt BG” was more of a friend than an aunt to Nicole, and she looked forward to sharing her biggest life moments with her, but then the unthinkable happened. Aunt BG was diagnosed with leukemia at 21-years-old, and lost her life to this disease. This left Nicole and her family shaken and changed forever.
Nicole has been a member of the Salesforce family since 2015, and by participating in the Light The Night campaign she has found a way to bring light to the darkness of losing her beloved aunt. Nicole reminds us that every donation, big or small, helps bring us closer to a world without blood cancers. She is very proud to be a part of the Salesforce March to a Million effort.
Help bring light to the darkness of cancer, and donate to Salesforce’s Light The Night team here.
2016 Salesforce National Light The Night Team at AT&T Park, San Francisco
After Eevie was born, she was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood blood cancer that affects 1 in 5 million newborns. She was given a 17 percent chance of surviving to age 2. This month, Eevie celebrated her third birthday. Her mother, Brynne, tells her story…
When Eevie was born, we noticed little blue spots all over her body. Tests later revealed that her white blood cell count was 50 times higher than normal. Hours later, my husband Ryan, Eevie and I were flown to a children’s hospital that specializes in pediatric hematology and oncology. I had just given birth, and all of the sudden we were on the cancer floor.
The oncologist confirmed our worst fear. Eevie had congenital acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At that moment, I nearly threw up. I could barely breathe.
We spent seven months at the hospital in a city away from home. I stayed with Eevie while Ryan, a police officer, drove back-and-forth to work so we could keep our insurance.
After this long stay, we were thrilled to bring our baby home. Eevie continued treatment at home and we also traveled back to the hospital for several rounds of lengthy in-patient chemotherapy. We enrolled her in three different experimental treatment studies.
The side effects were tough. Eevie vomited continuously throughout the day, had numerous infections and was in-and-out of intensive care. At one point, she completely stopped breathing twice in one day. I just started screaming. There is nothing like watching your daughter’s oxygen numbers drop as a medical team tries to keep her alive.
After the high-dose chemotherapy was finished, we thought we were headed for smooth sailing. She was cancer free!
Our moment of light did not last long enough. Eevie had a severe reaction to chemotherapy, which caused her body to attack itself. Over the course of a month, a rash that looked like a severe burn spread over her entire body. She rapidly began to lose weight and was only 15 pounds at age 2. We went to about 20 different doctors locally and throughout Kansas and Missouri.
Eventually the rash became so severe, that we cancelled our much-awaited trip to Disney World and flew to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for a three-month inpatient stay. Top dermatologists had never seen anything like it. We were back to the airplanes and IV poles. Back to sleepless nights living in the hospital. Back to the fear and back to the darkness.
The holiday season brought hope. Just before Christmas, Eevie underwent an exploratory surgery, and extensive labs revealed she had Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome (SCID) or "Bubble Boy" disease. Testing revealed that the disease was not genetic and was most likely caused by the chemotherapy.
She received an immunoglobulin therapy, which had a miraculous effect. The rash literally melted away. The doctors said she would need time to recover and anticipated she would need a bone marrow transplant.
With our new plan in place, Eevie arrived home from Philadelphia just in time for Christmas. We were beyond blissful to have her home, but this holiday was far from typical.
For the next six months, we were under strict precautions. Eevie was not able to go out in public or leave the house. She could not be near other children. All water – including bath water – had to be sterilized or boiled. She could not touch any grass or plants.
After a few months, her immune system began to recover on its own. By September, Eevie miraculously recovered. She no longer needed a transplant.
Since then, we have been free. Free to roam Target. Free to buy bacon at the grocery store. Free to drink a glass of water from the sink. Free to stand in the grass. Even free to hold hands with cousins at the zoo. In addition, we are now free to go on our upcoming trip to Disney World!
When I look at Eevie, my heart is filled with so much gratitude it becomes difficult to breathe. Not only is she surviving, she is thriving. This week, I wept tears of joy as I dropped Eevie off at her very first day of preschool. I long to take Eevie prom dress shopping, console her through her first break up, and watch her walk down the aisle.
We do not know exactly why Eevie made it through. We do know that it is likely due to an intricate combination of various treatments. Through life-saving research funded by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, this kind of hope is made possible – for my family, and for all the other families impacted by blood cancer.
These days, our family has very different views of the meaning of happiness and the meaning of pain. Over the past three years, hardship has become our acquaintance, awareness our friend, and gratitude our dearest companion.
We have realized that we can never say with certainty that something will or will not happen. For us, a marathon of despair turned to a journey of hope. For our little family – though I am not sure how or why – the impossible became possible.
Brynne and her husband, Ryan, live in Wichita, KS. Ryan is a police officer and Brynne is psychologist. Eevie is their first and only child. They also have a dog – a Pug mix named Annie. To read more stories about Eevie, click here.
This #GivingTuesday, help LLS continue to celebrate the joy of loved ones “coming home” after cancer treatment. When you support LLS you not only advance pioneering research, you accelerate promising treatments that save lives. Together let’s make someday, today! Join us at www.lls.org/givingtuesday
Lara Snead has always been a runner. A competitor since high school, Lara gradually quickened her pace and increased her stamina to the half-marathon distance.
Last June, at age 27, with a winning bib number from the lottery happily in hand, she set her sights on her first Marine Corps Marathon.
During her early training, her body sent her a signal. Chest pain and fatigue would be the first signs of a cancerous tumor growing around her sternum, and an enlarged lymph node near her collarbone confirmed it was Hodgkin lymphoma. Her first marathon would have to wait.
“It was completely shocking,” Lara said. “And I think it was the fear of the unknown that was the hardest on me.”
As a single woman living across the country from her family, facing this diagnosis alone was frightening. Almost immediately, her father flew in from Seattle and stayed to help her through that first month of treatment. Her doctors at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., told her to expect about six months of chemotherapy – an exhausting regimen of 12 hospital-based infusions every other week – which would gradually kill the cancerous cells.
“I didn’t know how my body would respond, but I tried to look on the bright side every day. I was thankful we had caught it early, and I convinced myself that I would be okay. The nurses at Sibley would smile and call me a rock star for the way I handled it.”
“I was so lucky to have family and friends to go to treatment with; they made it bearable. They gave me something to look forward to. The only thing I missed was exercise. I couldn’t run to relieve stress, at a time when I was at the peak of stress in my life,” she said.
Lara began running again in January after deciding against radiation treatment. Her energy returned, slowly. At first, she could run a few hundred yards and, days later, a mile. In April, she ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, less than four months after chemotherapy.
On October 22, Lara completed the 2016 Marine Corps Marathon, in Arlington, VA. There were 40 runners on Lara’s team at the Marine Corps Marathon start line. Together, they raised $40,000 for LLS!
“I decided to run with Team In Training because I wanted to help LLS raise money for cancer research, and help future patients like me.”
Since its inception in 1988, when a team of 38 runners trained together for the New York City Marathon and raised $320,000, TNT has raised more than $1.4 billion, trained more than 600,000 people and helped LLS invest more than $1 billion in research to advance breakthrough cancer treatments that are saving lives today. To learn more, go to www.teamintraining.org.
For the next six months, we were under strict precautions. Eevie was not able to go out in public or leave the house. She could not be near other children. All water – including bath water – had to be sterilized or boiled. She could not touch any grass or plants.
Lara Snead has always been a runner. A competitor since high school, Lara gradually quickened her pace and increased her stamina to the half-marathon distance.