Awareness, Patient Assistance

Blood Cancer Awareness Month

NeedyMeds

September is National Blood Cancer Awareness Month, also known as Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month.  Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that is fairly common, with an estimated 52,380 new cases in 2014. From the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website: “Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, the spongy center of bones where our blood cells are formed. The disease develops when blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control.” There are multiple types of Leukemia, some more common than others.   Lymphoma is similar to Leukemia in that it is a common type of blood cancer. More from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: “Lymphoma is the name for a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic system. The two

main types are Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In 2014, about 761,659 people are living with lymphoma or are in remission (no sign of the disease). This number includes about 177,526 people with Hodgkin lymphoma and 584,133 people with NHL.” Hodgkin lymphoma is defined by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells, named after the scientists who discovered them; these are larger cancerous cells. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, on the other hand, “represents a diverse group of diseases distinguished by the characteristics of the cancer cells associated with each disease type.”   What Help is Available for Leukemia? The first place to check for assistance is the NeedyMeds Leukemia Information Page. On this page we list what patient assistance programs are available for common Leukemia…

Awareness, Cancer, Health, NeedyMeds, Patient Assistance, Social Media and Healthcare

Bruins Fan Raises Awareness to #BumpOutCancer

Evan O'Connor

Last summer, we wrote about the Ice Bucket Challenge in support of the ALS Association. This year, a young Bruins fan’s viral video has launched a new awareness campaign. Liam Fitzgerald, 8 years old, was seen fist-bumping Boston Bruins players during their warm-up last November, and captured the hearts of hockey fans around the nation. In 2011, Liam “kicked cancer’s butt,” and is now working on raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with his own “Fist Bump Challenge.” Less bracing than a bucket of ice water, Liam’s campaign asks people to post pictures or videos of themselves fist bumping each other on social media and donating $5—$1 for each finger and thumb—and then nominating five more people to participate in the challenge.   Leukemia is a

cancer that affects blood and bone marrow and develops when blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control. It’s estimated that over 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with leukemia every year and 24,000 die from the disease annually. Lymphoma is the name for a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic system. Nearly 80,000 new cases of lymphoma are diagnosed in the US every year.   While donating to research into these cancers can help find an effective treatment or cure, NeedyMeds offers information on several programs that may be able to help those currently suffering and requiring assistance.  We have discussed resources for leukemia and lymphoma in a previous blog post. To refresh, NeedyMeds has Disease Information…

Patient Assistance

Leukemia & Lymphoma Resources

Samuel Rulon-Miller

In honor of Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month we are focusing this week's blog post on resources for these two conditions. Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that is fairly common, with an estimated 48,610 new cases each year. From the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website, “Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, the spongy center of bones where our blood cells are formed. The disease develops when blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control.” There are multiple types of Leukemia, some more common than others. The four most common types are named according to the type of cell that is affected, they are Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

(CML) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).  Lymphoma is similar to Leukemia in that it is a common type of blood cancer. From the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, “Lymphoma is the name for a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic system. The two main types are Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In 2013, about 731,277 people are living with lymphoma or are in remission (no sign of the disease). This number includes about 172,937 people with Hodgkin lymphoma and 558,340 people with NHL.” Hodgkin lymphoma is defined by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells, named after the scientists who discovered them; these are larger cancerous cells. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, on the other hand, “represents a diverse group of diseases distinguished by the characteristics…