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Honored Patient
Honored Hero: Patrick Freund
Participants in The Leukemia Cup Regatta sail in honor of a local patient whose bravery in fighting blood cancer provides inspiration and motivation.
Patrick Freund of Lake Zurich has been chosen as the 2010 Leukemia Cup Regatta Honored Hero.
Patrick is 20 years old and a blood cancer survivor. This is his story.
On May 25, 2005 Patrick Freund experienced a life changing event. He was diagnosed with leukemia. At the time Patrick was only 15 years old. He knew he was sick, but he didn?t understand the road that lay ahead. He spent the majority of his sophomore through senior year of high school at the hospital or home sick. He missed out on normal teenage activities because he was fighting for his life.
Over the past four years Patrick has had more than fifty spinal taps, nearly twenty bone marrow tests, four sessions of radiation, two bone marrow transplants, and treatment after treatment of chemotherapy and never-ending blood transfusions. Due to the treatment and medications, Patrick has had to deal with many side effects. He lost his hair, which he claims was far from the worst part. He would get incredibly sick each time he received chemotherapy and would also get mouth sores that would bring him to tears any time he tried to open his mouth. With each side affect Patrick remained positive and reminded himself that he was going to win his battle against leukemia.
Patrick watched as the impact of his diagnosis affected his friends and family. They held several benefits to raise money to pay for his medical bills and relied on each others to commute back and forth to medical appointments with him at Children?s Memorial Hospital. Patrick?s family reached out to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for support which helped them get through his battle with leukemia.
People always ask Patrick why he is always smiling and happy. He proudly looks at them in the eyes and says he has two options, ?I can live a good and happy life or I can sit around depressed and give up.? For Patrick, giving up is not an option. He is a fighter and he knows he has too much to live for and too many people that care about him to consider letting leukemia win. Patrick has vowed to beat cancer and is committed to supporting and inspiring other kids that they can make it too ? they can beat blood cancer.
An update on Patrick and his battle against leukemia:
This month, our 2010 Regatta Honored Hero, Patrick Freund, experienced the setback of a collapsed lung partially due to Chronic Graft vs. Host disease. He has since been released from Children?s Memorial Hospital, and is currently at home recovering. In the coming weeks, he will need to have regular chest x-rays, and he has been instructed to completely stay away from any type of smoke or areas with poor air circulation. Please keep Patrick and his family in your thoughts as we raise a sail in hopes of finding a cure for blood cancer.
