TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, or LLS, is an organization that exists to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
LLS works to find cures and ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients.
Your donations to LLS helps them do just that for men, women and children in our area.
Children like Noah, whose family is grateful for the support LLS has given them and encourages everyone to donate to this great cause.
"He just wants to be a little boy and play. All of these kids just want to be themselves," said Jackie Seibert, Noah's mother.
Blood cancers account for 40 percent of childhood cancers. Noah was diagnosed with stage four Burkitt Lymphoma.
"It's extremely aggressive," Jackie said of the disease. "In fact, it's the most aggressive human tumor. It can be fatal if not treated rather quickly."
Luckily, Noah was about to start aggressive chemotherapy right away. Burkitt Lymphoma is also very responsive to treatment.
The Seiberts say they're so grateful for what LLS does to support families like theirs.
"In addition to finding a cure, just the ways they assist families that are going through this with the treatments that are available right now," said Jackie.
The Toledo chapter of LLS does its fair share to raise money for local families whose loved ones suffer from blood cancers.
"Locally, last year in Toledo, we did a quarter of a million dollars in co-pay assistance in financial assistance. We have support groups, we have an information resource center where patients can go and learn," said Mandy Sinclair-Nitschke, senior campaign manager of LLS.
Jackie says that families are in crisis mode during treatment of these diseases, and having support from LLS helps them get through the day-to-day tasks that many people forget about.
"We try to hit everything from every angle so we can be the ultimate resource to our blood cancer patients," Sinclair said.
Nationally, LLS has funded millions of dollars of research, which includes 300 current projects going on right now.
"If there's a child that can not have to go through what Noah did, if we can find better ways to treat cancer or can miraculously find a cure, then I'm all for doing whatever we can," Jackie said.
Visit here to help WTOL's Malena Caruso raise money to help anyone affected by blood cancer and fund life-saving research.
