David Cranmer - TNT Honored Survivor

Shelburne, Vermont

Team In Training Marathon Kickoff Speech

My marathon started in October 1999. Unlike you, I had no preparation for this experience. It started in a doctor’s office in Burlington, Vt. when I was told I had CML – Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Bang! The race was on.

The “first mile” was most difficult - I had to go home and tell my wife – then my family and then my co-workers. We were struggling to find any information on CML that we could. There are no coaches in this marathon

The next “mile” was to decide on a course of treatment. My goal was to finish this marathon - to be cured of this disease. We chose Bone Marrow Transplant, which meant we needed to find a donor. If you thought asking for a donation was difficult, imagine asking for a donor!

I was fortunate; my youngest brother was a perfect match.

It’s now January 2000, “mile 3” - we’ve chosen the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston to do the transplant. Now we must fight with our insurance company to cover the expenses. And to make decisions on the type and extent of treatment I’ll receive.  I’m starting to find my pace – daily medication, weekly blood tests, monthly doctor visits.

The next “5 miles” are kind of a blur, starting in February, as I go through all of the pre-transplant testing, and into March when I go to Boston for the transplant. First I’m given two days of heavy-duty chemotherapy to kill the leukemia cells, followed by four days of total body radiation treatment. The danger of the radiation treatment was lessened due to a new multi-million dollar treatment facility, funded in part with grants from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I chose to receive what is called a depleted transplant, which further lowered the risk of my dying from the transplant. The research for this new type of transplant was also funded by grants from the Society. At this stage of the race, my body has no immune system and can longer create new blood cells.  I’m dependent on blood transfusions for survival. 

The day of my transplant, March 9th, is “Day Zero”. Doctors draw the marrow from my brother, treat it and give it to me by a transfusion. I’m still in the first third of my marathon. The next few “miles” are spent in my germ-free isolation room in the hospital, waiting for the new cells to start working. In the following week I hit “mile 10”, the new cells are working, followed by “mile 11” - being allowed to leave my room and walk for about 25 yards.  In a couple of weeks, I leave the hospital.

It’s now April and I’m home, under “house arrest”, slowly recovering from my treatment and now approaching the halfway point. It’s called “Day 100”, the 100th day since my transplant. My blood counts are still improving and I’m now allowed to go in public without a facemask and gloves for protection, and can eat foods that haven’t had all of the germs cooked out of them. I have enough energy to walk around the block (slowly).

My next few “miles” are repetitious. Slowly regaining my strength and slowly overcoming the after effects of the chemo and radiation with monthly trips to Boston to visit the clinic. Six months after my transplant, I’m allowed to go back to work part-time and 3 months after that, full-time. Now I’m starting to cruise along, getting stronger every day. Visits to Boston are now every other month.

Then, like many marathon runners well into the race, I hit my “wall”. At my one-year check-up my blood test showed traces of my old leukemia cells and they were starting to multiply. But my goal is to finish this marathon. One of my options was to take a new drug called Gleevec. This drug has revolutionized leukemia and cancer treatment as it only attacks the cml cells and not the healthy ones. It was developed by Dr. Brian Druker – whose work was funded by the Society after several major drug companies felt they could not afford the research for a drug with such a limited patient base. It works! After two months, my blood tests were normal…and important to me, there were minimal side effects.

There is a cost. Most of you raised over $3,000 to participate in Team in Training. That represents a one month supply of Gleevec. But my goal is to finish this marathon. So we find ways to pay for the drug.

Now I’m really cruising along. At my 2-year checkup I was in molecular remission - no sign of any leukemia cells in my body. As the drug was brand new there is no information on how long the drug should be taken, so I continued on the drug.  My 3-year and 4-year checkups again showed no signs of the disease, the dosage was reduced.

Today, I’m at “mile 26” - I can see the finish line. In a few months I go back to Boston. And if I’m still in molecular remission (which I will be), we will stop treatment and I will cross the line, beating leukemia!

I’m not crossing the line alone. I am here today because somewhere, someone like you decided to take a chance and run in a marathon – or cycle in a Century Ride. Someone like you decided to ask for and collected that dollar that made the difference to fund the radiation room in Boston. Another dollar collected gave enough money to fund the research that developed less deadly transplants.  Another dollar collected went to fund a Doctor who believed he had found the way to beat this disease with a new drug.

I started my marathon alone - but I’m not alone now. I’m part of the Team, without it my marathon would have been much more difficult. Thank you. It is a good thing that you are doing. On behalf of all the honored team members and on behalf of those future patients you have helped, thank you.

Remember that I’ll be thanking you on every step you take in your race.