Doug Leech has two birthdays.
One is the actual day he was born. The other was when he had a life-saving stem cell transplant. The staff at MD Anderson in Houston celebrates transplants like his with a birthday cake.
Leech, an adviser for Edward Jones, had an autologous transplant, meaning his own stem cells were used. It's a treatment that has been discovered through research -- the type of research supported and partially funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).
Doug and his wife, Gretchen Leech, are now strong supporters of LLS and Doug was Man of the Year for 2018, although they didn't actually know about LLS until well into his treatment process.
"What LLS does is gives you very clear direction and guidance," Doug Leech explains.
According to the society's statistics, every three minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer and every nine minutes, a blood cancer patient dies.
A cancer diagnosis hits with the power of a nuclear bomb that makes it even harder to sort through all the choices and make all the decisions: Which doctor should I see? Is this treatment really the best one? LLS provides up-to-date information on treatments for blood cancers.
The society also provides practical advice and even financial help dealing with insurance and co-pays as well as travel assistance for those who can't get the best treatment close to home.
For emotional needs, it can connect patients and family members with peers who have been down the road themselves and can provide advice and support.
LLS Chief Executive Officer Dr. Louis DeGennaro says, "While there's never a good time to be diagnosed with cancer, this is a great time to be fighting it."
And the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has been in the middle of the fight. Bryan Adams, campaign manager for the Man and Woman of the Year, explains that in 2017 and 2018, LLS funded 34 of 39 drugs approved by the FDA.
There's also been extensive research and advances in immunotherapies -- such as stem cell transplants.
Leech says, "Heaven forbid something would happen with my children but, having had both, I would far rather they have immunotherapy than chemotherapy."
In August 2015, Leech says, "I was the healthiest person I knew."
Enthusiastic about exercise, he pulled something in his neck while doing pullups. When he rubbed it, he felt a marble-size lump. It wasn't painful. "It was just weird."
He didn't have other symptoms. In fact, when he went to his doctor, his blood work was all perfectly normal. But the lump came up in casual conversations with people who urged him to get it checked.
While on vacation, more BB-size lumps started to appear on his neck.
The return home was a whirlwind of scans and tests that led to a diagnosis of stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma and the start of eight months of chemotherapy followed by 22 radiation treatments.
Early fall 2016, lower back pain and night sweats led to the discovery of more cancer: stage 4 in his bone marrow. The Leeches and their two young children moved to Houston for three months of treatment via stem cell transplant at MD Anderson.
It wasn't until late in the whole process that they started to hear about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. When they did, though, they knew they weren't in need of many of its services.
"We have amazing insurance and we're fortunate in life," Leech says. "I felt like, if someone's needing travel assistance, we don't need that. I'd rather that go to somebody that needs that."
But as they learned more about the mission, they felt more and more it was something they wanted to be a part of.
His region of Edward Jones decided to co-sponsor the 2017 Man and Woman of the Year fundraiser in his honor. Having finally been cleared to be around people, Doug and Gretchen Leech attended that year's Grand Finale, a raucous celebration of victories in the fight against blood cancers.
"We were just like, 'This is something we want to be part of,'" he says.
They had returned to Little Rock feeling eager to help.
So, when he was asked to consider running for Man of the Year for 2018, "I said, 'Heck yeah. I'm all in.'"
Not that they really knew what they were getting into.
The nominated men and women, each with some personal connection to the fight against blood cancer, agree to raise money for the society over a 10-week period. The man and woman who raise the most money win and are named Man or Woman of the Year at the Grand Finale event.
"It's a competition, but it's not a competition," Leech says. "It's a competition against cancer."
In the case of the Leeches, they employed their network of family and friends, started letter-writing and calling campaigns, used business relationships to secure corporate sponsorships and just generally got out to spread the message.
"If I got within a foot of you, you're probably going to hear about LLS and what a great cause it is and I would ask you to give," Leech explains.
One of the biggest things they did was start what is becoming an annual fundraiser: Grape Expectations, a wine tasting courtesy of a vineyard (next year's will be Baldacci Family Vineyards in Napa) and dinner at Sonny Williams' Steak Room.
Ultimately, Leech raised more than $173,000, enough to make him 2018's Man of the Year, which was announced at the Grand Finale.
The Grand Finale, while technically formal, is "not a stuffy event," Leech says.
There's the usual food, drink and auctions, but with a twist.
The Man and Woman of the Year nominees all get up and share their stories in what Gretchen Leech calls a "very touching moment."
It's a time of affirmation and support and, as the Leeches explain, the fundraising campaign doesn't end until all the money is tallied that night. Each candidate has 10 silent auction items and one live auction item at the event to contribute to their campaign.
"You have people bidding on these things because they want their candidate to win," Gretchen Leech says. "It's a lot more fun."
Think hooting and hollering and even hand-clackers.
Adams says, "I like to tell people it's a gala meets the Super Bowl because people cheer on their candidates. There's some rowdiness all packaged in the beauty of a gala event."
"We've had a 60-year-old up there doing the splits," Doug Leech says. "It's crazy."
And yet, the ultimate goal is to get more money for the society, regardless of who raises it.
"We're all in the same fight," Gretchen Leech says. "We're all on the same team."
This year they also have a student -- who will receive a scholarship -- raising money.
And there's another special visitor: DeGennaro will visit Arkansas for the first time.
But the most special visitors may be the Boy and Girl of the Year, two pediatric blood cancer patients in the Central Arkansas area who will come to the event. Adams calls them the campaign's "cheerleaders."
"They're driving the candidates. They've got their own personal connection, but when you look into the face of a child and know they're here today because of organizations like LLS, it will make you want to do all you possibly can to make a cure happen."
After their successful campaign last year, the Leeches are co-chairs for the Grand Finale this year. They're also stepping into a leadership role on the campaign, helping train this year's nine candidates and share their own experiences in fundraising.
It's not all about the money. Just as important to the Leeches is raising awareness of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Gretchen Leech says, "We want people to know they can call Bryan or headquarters and say 'This is my need. Can you help me?' And for people to know that it's a wonderful organization to give back to, whether your time or your money. You know your money is going 100 percent in state or to research. Overhead is low."
Last year, the society invested more than $700,000 in financial aid to more than 500 cancer patients and families in Arkansas. They also worked in more than 80 schools, supporting children re-entering the school system after treatment.
"We want LLS to be a household name," Doug Leech says. "We want to have people know about it and create advocates. We need to be the voice."
LLS Man & Woman of the Year Grand Finale Celebration is 6:30 p.m. Friday at the DoubleTree Hotel, 424 W. Markham St., Little Rock. A VIP reception with DeGennaro starts at 5:45 p.m. Tickets are $100, $200 for VIP. Call (501) 289-4540 or visit mwoy.org/arkansas.
High Profile on 04/28/2019