ST. CHARLES ? Eleven years ago, Susan Moody of Batavia was a single mother of two, running four miles a day and working in Chicago.
But one day in October 2001, she suddenly felt like she could not breathe.
?I felt like I?m having an anxiety attack,? Moody, 53, recalled of that strange fall morning. ?I woke up, and I can?t breathe. I took my son to a friend?s house and my daughter to daycare. I walked to the emergency room. A scan showed a huge tumor in my chest, a non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma the size of a small cantaloupe pressing against my heart and lungs.?
Both Hodgkin?s and non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma are named for a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic or immune system, named for the type of cell they affect. It was a bad case of deja vu for Moody ? her father, Bruce May, had just died that February of non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma.
?He was an old, stubborn German,? Moody said. ?Seriously, he could drop and give you 70 push-ups on his hospital room floor. We could not imagine he could die. He worked his whole life, retired, got sick and died within three years.?
Moody survived her cancer with a stem cell transplant. And then Wendy Peniak, 51, of Geneva, Moody?s younger sister, was diagnosed in January 2010 with non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma. She has not yet needed treatment.
The family, including a third sister, Sandy Beach, 47, of Batavia, will host a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society from 6-9 p.m. Monday at McNally?s Traditional Irish Pub, 109 E. Main St., St. Charles, with the hope of raising more than $2,000 toward research to find a cure.
The event includes live music and raffle prizes. The three sisters and Lisa Dent of the US 99.5-FM morning radio show will be pouring drinks as guest bartenders. And while they are raising glasses and money, they also will think of their father, who died Feb. 5 ? 11 years ago.
?My hope is that this fundraiser will raise awareness about lymphoma,? Beach said. ?And that people will be encouraged to donate to help researchers find a cure ? not only at the fundraiser, but also the rest of the year as well.?
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Moody and Peniak are now part of a national study of blood cancers through the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The study seeks to find genetic connections in blood cancers.
?Wendy and I are in the Dana Farber study ... in a way, to honor our father, Bruce May,? Moody said. ?During his fight with lymphoma, [he] entered every study and trial available to him, even when he knew his time was short, in his own prayerful hope that it could eventually help others. Little did he know that within one year after his death, one of the trial drug studies he was involved with would help save me.?
Alexander R. Vartanov, the research assistant for the Harvard Study of Genetic Factors that Lead to Lymphoma, said 700 individuals comprising 300 families are enrolled in the study.
?It started in 2004 with the aim of identifying specific genes in families that have multiple cases of lymphoma in first-degree relatives such as siblings, parents and children,? Vartnov said. ?We are finding that there are correlations in certain families. Breast cancer is well-known for its identifying gene. With lymphoma, there is more mystery to it, in that it?s not well-known how many genes are prevalent.?
Part of the research is to identify as many of these genes as possible, then subsequently identify treatments that could target those genes, he said. A test for the lymphoma gene is at least five to 10 years away. Even a test for lymphoma before the onset of symptoms is years away as well, Vartnov said.
?As part of the study, we have encouraged unaffected siblings and other first-degree relatives to participate,? Vartnov said. ?And that way, the aim is to paint a complete picture of the family.?
The study continues to enroll participants, he said. Anyone interested in participating or who wants to donate to the research can contact Vartnov at alexanderr_vartanov@dfci.harvard.edu. Or they can contact lead investigator Dr. Jennifer Brown at jennifer_brown@dfci.harvard.edu.
Moody said after the fundraiser, she will talk to her six unaffected siblings about participating in the gene study.
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Peniak is hopeful the study will make things easier for lymphoma patients in the future, both a means for early diagnosis and an effective treatment.
?It was quite accidental how it was found,? Peniak said of her cancer. ?I was having a pain in my lower right abdomen, and so they did a CT scan and it showed enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes. The doctors knew the family history and thought it was prudent to have a biopsy done.?
Doctors took out a slice of the lymph node, froze it, stained it and sent it to Mayo Clinic for diagnosis, which came back as non-Hodkin?s follicular lymphoma, a slower-growing type of blood cancer than her sister?s or father?s, but still a lymphoma.
?It?s not doing anything right now, but I know at some point treatment will be needed, usually chemotherapy,? Peniak said. ?We need a good way to test before symptoms. There is no indicator other than really bad pain.?
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Source: http://www.kcchronicle.com/2012/02/02/sisters-work-to-raise-money-to-fight-lymphoma/aqs8e45/
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