MANSFIELD, Ohio—When Dave Carr of Mansfield was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) in January of 2012, he wasn’t going to let the disease define him. To this day, he still hasn’t let that happen. In fact, a title he could soon bear is “Man of the Year.”
Each year, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) holds a 10-week fundraising competition in which people compete to earn the title of “Man and Woman of the Year” by raising funds for LLS blood cancer research.
Carr was nominated to participate in this year’s fundraising campaign, which officially began March 5 and ends May 16.
He and his fellow candidates will compete in honor of children who are blood cancer survivors, the “Boy and Girl of the Year.” Carr is competing in honor of nine-year-old Kinley Strohl, who is a survivor of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Hypodiploid.
The man and woman who raise the most funds earn LLS’ titles of “Man and Woman of the Year,” respectively. However, candidates work toward a collective goal. To date, this fundraising campaign has helped LLS invest more than $1 billion in research.
Those funds have been used to help people like Carr, whose oral chemotherapy medication was directly funded by the LLS. As little as 11 years ago, the life expectancy for those diagnosed with CML was three to five years on average; however, by taking his medication, “I can live a long and prosperous life,” Carr said.
He has been taking the medication for the past 37 months. “Before this therapy was developed, 37 months would have put me pretty much at the end of my life,” he said.
Carr takes the medication twice daily and must do so for the rest of his life.
“You don’t go into remission with Leukemia,” he said. Instead, patients may enter “complete molecular response, where the blood no longer shows evidence. The only way that they know you even have leukemia is they do a DNA test,” he explained.
Carr entered complete molecular response about nine months after taking the drug, which is impressive, considering his above-average white blood cell count when he was first admitted into the hospital.
“A normal white blood cell count is between 6,000 and 10,000. When I went into the hospital emergency room, I had a count of 125,000,” he said.
Despite the hardships he’s had to endure, he’s tried to make a positive out of them, he said.
“I think the worst thing that you can do when you’re faced with adversity is to become a hermit,” he said. “I think the best thing you can do is talk about it and go out and help other people.”
And that’s exactly what he’s tried to do—raise awareness and help other people.
Not long after his diagnosis, he learned that other CML patients were dying because they couldn’t afford the needed medication. “If you don’t have insurance, this medication will cost you anywhere from $30,000-$50,000 a year…Nobody should die because they can’t afford medication,” he said.
Carr lobbied state legislators to vote for Senate Bill 99—Cancer Treatment Modernization Bill, which was signed into law on June 17, 2014 and went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year. Under this bill, patients who are prescribed oral chemotherapy medications cannot be charged more than those who receive intravenous chemotherapy medications, Carr said. What that means is “for a 30-day supply, you can’t charge a patient [who’s prescribed oral chemotherapy medication] more than $100,” he said.
Carr has also allowed doctors to take extra bone marrow samples during each of his three bone marrow biopsies. He feels it’s important to contribute to research and testing. “Somebody’s got to do it,” he said.
And now, he and his wife Cinde Carr are partnering to help raise funds for LLS through the “Man and the Woman of the Year” campaign.
As part of their fundraising efforts, they plan to host a fundraiser at the China Club restaurant in Mansfield on March 19 from 6-9 p.m. Admission costs $10. There will be a Chinese raffle, appetizers and door prizes.
People may make a tax deductible donation to the LLS cause in Carr’s name by going to www.mwoy.org/pages/coh/columbus15/dcarrn.
The Carrs hope to raise $15,000. “I think we’ll hit it,” Dave Carr said. But whether or not he earns the title of “Man of the Year,” everyone wins, he said. “This is really all about raising money for the research and patients,” he said.
