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Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma News - Return to News Menu
'Guns & Hoses' hockey benefit to help boy with cancer
By Lisa Medendorp
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
December 15, 2005 - The thirst for revenge is real as the face-off for the Fourth Annual Guns & Hoses Charity Hockey Game approaches. The firefighters want to douse the cops, who won the last contest, 4-1.
A few friends from Professional Med Team Ambulance, area hospitals, the U.S. Coast Guard and the state Department of Corrections also will lend their talents to Saturday's 8 p.m. puckfest at Lakeshore Sports Centre, 4470 Airline.
This year, the game will be played for a very special athlete -- 11-year-old Cole Shafer of Norton Shores, who has battled cancer since last summer.
Money raised from the game will help Cole and his parents, Herb and Shannon Shafer, deal with medical and travel expenses incurred during his treatment at Grand Rapids' DeVos Children's Hospital for Burkitt's lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer.
"Cole was just reported in remission," Shannon Shafer said Wednesday.
Burkitt's lymphoma is a rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, with only 184 cases reported last year in the United States. "About 65 percent of the cases respond very well to chemotherapy, which is what happened with Cole," his mother said.
Cole, who will attend Saturday's game, "is just a big sports fanatic," she said.
The fifth-grader at Churchill School is a big Detroit Red Wings fan and his favorite position is defense. His idol -- the Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom.
Cole played ice hockey, inline skate hockey, soccer and football before his diagnosis. "He's a very positive, strong kid," his mother said.
He had to stay in the hospital for a week every time he received a treatment, she said. Yet each time, he returned to school as soon as possible. When it was explained to him that he had cancer, "the first person that came to his mind was (cyclist and cancer survivor) Lance Armstrong," she said.
"He always knew in his mind the cancer was beatable," Shannon Shafer said, even when his weight had dropped from 93 to 70 pounds.
Donations will be accepted at the door -- $5 is suggested.
Todd Rake, a Muskegon firefighter who works each year to organize the contest, said so many people wanted to play this year that some had to be turned away. Each team will have a 20-player roster.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is a cancer that develops in lymphatic tissue, which is found in many places throughout the body, including the lymph nodes, spleen, thymus gland, adenoids, tonsils and bone marrow.
Approximately 1.5 million people world-wide currently live with NHL and each year an estimated 300,000 people die from this disease. The incidence is rising 3-7 percent per year, making it the second fastest-growing cancer in the United States and the third fastest-growing in the rest of the world. It occurs mainly in adults, most frequently in people between 45 and 60 years of age.
What is NHL?
The lymphatic system, an important part of the immune system, plays a major role in the body's defence against infection. While non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) starts in the lymphatic tissue, it can spread to other organs.
NHL is generally classified into two equal groups:
Aggressive (intermediate/high grade) NHL is characterised by rapidly dividing cancer cells of the lymph node region, and requires immediate treatment. Without successful treatment, the average life expectancy of patients with aggressive NHL is six months to two years. Patients who are diagnosed and treated in the early stages of aggressive disease are more likely to experience a complete remission of several years' duration and are less likely to have late recurrences.
Indolent lymphomas slowly divide and multiply in the body making initial diagnosis more difficult. Patients may live an average of 10 years with the disease and an average patient with indolent NHL can expect to be treated five to six times over their life span in order to slow the disease progression. Standard treatments cannot cure indolent disease.
Conventional Therapy
Treatment of NHL depends on the type of tumour and how advanced it is. Current treatments include 'watch and wait' until the cancer causes symptoms, chemotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy, radiation, biological treatments and bone marrow transplantation. In patients with aggressive NHL, standard chemotherapy is successful in three to four people out of 10.
Nanaimo veteran seeking answers
TOBY GORMAN/The News Bulletin
Veteran James Johnston, 66, wants to know if the Canadian military is responsible for him contracting non-Hodgkins lymphoma and other cancers. Johnston served at CFB Gagetown from 1958-1971, which is alleged to have used Agent Orange. A class action lawsuit could pave the way for answers.
By Toby Gorman
the News Bulletin
Class action lawsuit gets court approval
Aug 14 2007 - There is a ray of hope, a slim ray, that James Johnston might find out what caused the cancer that is killing him.
A class action lawsuit by more than 2,000 veterans and civilians who worked at CFB Gagetown is approved to proceed in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Johnston, who worked at Gagetown from 1958 to 1971 with the 2nd Battalion Black Watch and whose wartime role was stretcher bearer, hopes that will spark similar approvals across the country, including B.C.
The suit, initiated by veteran Ken Dobbie, claims the group was harmed by exposure to Agent Orange and other defoliants on the base between the 1950s and 1980s.
Johnston, 66, signed on to the suit simply to find answers.
“I don’t regret my time with the military and I have nothing against the military,” said Johnston, who moved to Nanaimo with his family 20 years ago.
“I still love the military and I would do it all over again. It was my life for 34 years. But I feel as though it has turned its back on me, at least the government has.
“I never asked for anything and all I want now is an answer.”
Johnston wants to know why he now has non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a group of cancers that harm the immune system.
Johnston also suffers from various other cancers and has undergone painful surgeries and chemotherapy.
His family has no history of cancer. He said the Department of Veterans Affairs has done nothing to assist him.
“Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is a trademark illness associated with this case,” said Casey Churko, a litigator involved in the suit.
Newfoundland’s Supreme Court decision will pave the way for lawyers to access information that was previously unobtainable, which could see similar lawsuits opened in other provinces. It is alleged the military used defoliants on bases like Gagetown and CFB Suffield that exposed soldiers and civilians to it.
“My life has been shortened and I want to know why,” said Johnston. “That’s all.”
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