The fight continues!

Team Life Sabers

Three weeks ago, I posted a bit of information about the annual Man/Woman of the Year Campaign of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to raise funds for the battle against blood cancers. (See the original post here.) I am proud to be part of "Team Life Sabers" working with Stefanie Sarantopoulos, MD PhD to raise funds for LLS. In today's post, I want to tell you a bit more about Stef and the work she does. I am hoping that as you learn about Stefanie, you will consider supporting her campaign as well.
Jabba the Hutt joins us in the battle against blood cancers

First off, you may wonder about the origin of our team's name.

Stefanie's family and friends are also actively supporting our efforts, and her children made lots of origami Star Wars items to be worn by Stef and her team, and they've also loaned her their light sabers to serve as an emblem of what the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is trying to achieve: victory over cancer.

Stefanie is passionate about delivering quality care to her patients. Perhaps that explains why this couple came well over 1500 miles to receive treatment at Duke. They agreed to share their enthusiasm for Stefanie's work by appearing in this post so that you would be able to see someone who has benefited from her clinical expertise.
Nurses and CNAs prepare for a day of caring for our patients.
But although Stefanie has an active practice caring for patients being treated in Duke's Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Program, she is also actively involved in important clinical research. For although bone marrow and stem cell transplantation can be life-saving, it can also be life-altering.

Sometimes after a patient receives donor stem cells which successfully attack the cancer, the cells take their job a bit TOO seriously and begin to cause problems. In this situation, the patient can develop what we call graft versus host disease (GVHD).

Stef's lab goes to war against cancer and chronic GVHD.
In patients who develop GVHD, the donor's B lymphocytes begin to attack some of the patient's own tissues. Chronic GVHD symptoms range from dry, itchy eyes to stiff, inelastic skin, dry mouth, mouth sores, or perhaps chronic lung disease. Stefanie's work in the lab focuses on the prevention and cure of chronic graft versus host disease. Thus her focus is not only on curing cancer, but also on ensuring that patients have the best possible quality of life after transplant. Some of the work that she and her team perform in the lab is supported by grant money from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I hope that this post and my previous one can help to illustrate how many people serve critical roles in helping to conquer cancer. Physicians and nurses may be the first people you think of, but the research which goes on in the lab, the organizations that fund this research, and those who donate to support this work, are also vital. And of course no one is as important as our patients.
Photos of some of our transplant survivors line the walls of the clinic and inpatient area

Perhaps you will consider donating to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Simply click the button below. If you cannot give a monetary donation, please donate a bit of your time to pray for their efforts, to pray for all those suffering from cancer, and to forward this link to others.

On behalf of Stef, Team Life Sabers, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and myself, thank you!
I support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!



34 comments:

  1. Such an inspiring team...and we love the L&LS!

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  2. This is an amazing tribute to all those working to help research cancer, gives me chills. Thank you for sharing your amazing view. Thanks also for hosting this week, hope to see you soon!

    Happy St Patrick's Day
    Karren
    #OHGWW

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  3. Good post and very inspiring tribute :-)

    Have a great week

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  4. What a wonderful team. You folks are awesome. Thanks for all you do!

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  5. Very nice team. Great tribute and prayers to all. You are amazing.

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  6. It is so gratifying to know that good people like yourself and Stefanie are on the front lines helping those with leukemia and lymphoma survive with treatments, Sue! Thank you for your personal than you card to me for my donation to your fundraiser. I hope you reach your goals!

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  7. Well done to the team. A great post!

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  8. This is a great cause that you have joined in.Thanks for sharing this post with the details of this team.You all are really great!

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  9. Such a noble and important cause.

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  10. Great post and a wonderful team!
    Best wishes and thanks for hosting!

    Happy ww to you
    Joana

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  11. A great fight to be part of. Wishing you the very best in your cause!

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  12. What a great cause! Thanks for sharing and hosting. Have a great week.

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  13. This is truly a cause to work for. Blessings!

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  14. Hi Y'all!

    What an important cause. We've lost number of friends to cancer. Recently we lost one to bone cancer and another is undergoing treatment for the same disease. We really need to keep everyone in our prayers. It helps.

    BrownDog's Human

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  15. What a great cause! I shall keep your friend in my thoughts and prayers.
    Traci

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  16. I love this cause! Thank you for sharing!

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  17. Love the origami Star Wars items! So cute!

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  18. Amazing post Sue, it's incredible the way people are fighting this illness and all of the hard work and dedication put into it, it's inspirational. I love the Star Wars origami too! - Tasha

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  19. Very informative and inspiring information about this vital mission.

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  20. Sue, I hope with this awareness comes a cure one day. God bless those who endure this illness! Thanks for hosting the mid-week fun!

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  21. Great work and an equally great team! Prayers to all!

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  22. YOu are all so inspiring!

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  23. I wish everyone on this team well. Without amazing health researchers the world would be a poorer place. In Australia I know we have teams who too rely on donations for the best work to be done to find ways to help those suffering all kinds of illness. Thanks to you, we are all better informed. Denyse

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  24. Such a worthy cause. Thanks for alerting me to your link-up :)

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  25. I have close friends and family affected by Leukaemia, you are all doing amazing work and we all hope that we will find a cure for cancer. Thank you for all you are doing!
    Wren x

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  26. I hope you make your goal! Best, Lana

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  27. Thank you for the kind comments Sue! - Tasha

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  28. I always glad to read your comments, dear Sue.

    I compare the meaning of Denyse - she wrote exactly what I think!

    It's difficult to think on such things like cancer and to write about although! I was very ill in my childhood with a rar illness called the "Purpur Krankheit" or Purpura Schönlein-Henoch (Purpura anaphylactoides, Vasculitis allergica) . I know this and never forgot.

    Send you lovely greetings, Heidrun

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  29. Great post and a wonderful team! Thank you for sharing!

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  30. Your continued support and awareness of blood cancers is tremendous. One of the girls in my daughter's class has recently been diagnosed but they aren't telling the kids what is really wrong with her which I don't think is right.

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