When we think of lotteries, I believe most of us think of the big money, as in Powerball or Mega Millions. I admit that from time to time I do contribute to the lottery tax when the pots of money are enormous. I have never won.  Having said that, in my life I do believe I have won the lottery on three occasions, and although these are not monetary, they are monumental.

Occasion number one was the day I met Sharon, now 51 years ago. I did not know it on that day, June 17, 1971, how great the rewards would be – huge beyond belief. Like an annuity payout, they continue to this day including the dividends of wonderful children and grandchildren.

Occasion number two was February 2, 1972. That was the day my fate regarding the Vietnam war was to be sealed. Perhaps it is only us baby boomers that remember there was a mandatory draft for that war. And as I turned 18 years old, the draft updated its rules of engagement so that there were no longer any student deferments. I was a college freshman and that offered no safety net. Along with my dormitory mates, my family, and Sharon we held our collective breaths as the ping pong balls bounced. A number of 96 or higher would be safe. Below that, off to the war.

That day, I won what might have been a life changing lottery as my number was 226. There is no monetary value to be placed on that number, although again the payout has been enormous. In my heart, I know I would have been a changed man, as most are after going to war.

On January 8, 2010, I did not win the lottery. Honestly, it was a personal loss as I was officially diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and Small Cell Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL). Based on initial testing, my prognosis was poor. I was given an 8-year survival. Now 12-years later my story is well known to you and has publicly been written about. Over the years, I have been treated and relapsed on multiple occasions. I have received just about every approved treatment and participated in multiple clinical trials, including new oral medications, and two different CAR T immunologic therapies.

Having relapsed again this past June, I am being offered a most promising treatment, albeit one of the most traumatic, an allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant. This means totally wiping out my bone marrow and accepting a transplant from a donor whose cells would be necessary for me to continue to live. Although we have been told the success rate of a cure is 50%, it is hard to sugar coat this as we have just been informed the mortality may be 5% in the first month after the procedure and up to 20% through the recovery. I have very little alternative and needed to locate a donor.

Here is where I won the lottery for the third time as my younger brother Dave is a 100% match! He has agreed to join Dr Larry’s Team and donate his bone marrow cells to save my life.

What monetary value do we place on a life? I certainly think more than the multi-million dollar amounts from the state lotteries. And if David holds my winning lottery ticket all I can say is the value is priceless.

The process is very intense and will mandate that Sharon and I relocate temporarily to Seattle for treatment at the world renown Fred Hutch Cancer Center. We will arrive there on Tuesday, September 27 for at least a 4-month stay. The first 3-4 weeks is preparation, followed by the infusion of David’s donor cells and then 100 days of support and observation.

David will go through the process of preparing his bone marrow to produce the cells and their collection in his hometown of Chicago. The cells will be flown to Seattle, and after preparing me with several days of chemotherapy and total body radiation, the infusion will be done.

I do hope to win life’s lottery at least one more time, when G-d willing we are informed the transplant worked and I am free of CLL/SLL.

Thank you for your continued support and caring.

Sincerely,

Larry and Sharon