From Deseret News archives:
Utah to get lymphoma support chapter
In order to help others in the same situation, Koehn and friend Munro Murdock are forming a chapter of the Lymphoma Research Foundation in Utah. This will be the 26th such chapter in the United States and the first in Utah.
The Lymphoma Research Foundation is a nationally recognized nonprofit dedicated to eradicating lymphoma and serving those touched by the disease. Nearly 500,000 Americans are affected by the disease, the most common of all blood cancers and the third most common childhood cancer.
The Utah LRF chapter will focus on raising awareness about lymphoma, helping newly diagnosed patients and their families get the information and assistance they need, raising awareness of the disease and establishing advocacy groups to urge lawmakers to allocate more research dollars to wiping out the disease.
"Lymphoma is present here, and it's a serious blood disease," Koehn said. "People contract it and families need certain information and support. This is one way of providing it."
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2002 the incidence rate for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Utah was 19.2 per 100,000 compared to the national average of 18.4 per 100,000. For Hodgkin's lymphoma it was 2.36 per 100,000 in Utah and 2.7 per 100,000 nationally in 2003.
The Lymphoma Research Foundation reports that there are more than 30 subtypes of lymphoma consisting of five types of Hodgkin's lymphoma and over 25 types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, with non-Hodgkin's being the most common cancer of the lymphatic system.
For the average person diagnosed with the disease, it's possible to get more information by talking to their personal physician or a family friend who may have had it or by researching it themselves in the library. With the wealth of information available on the Web, Koehn said it's likely most people would use it as their primary research tool. The new LRF chapter will help point patients to reliable sources of information.
"Like any form of cancer if diagnosed with it, (the patient is) scared out of their wits and wants to know what they're dealing with and where to go for information," Koehn said. "One of the things the chapter would do once it gets running and organized is to be a source of information for people who seek it and know places to direct people to."
The first meeting of the Utah chapter of the LRF was held Sept. 19. A second meeting will be held in October, but the date, time and location have not been determined yet. Anyone interested in joining or who wants more information can contact Koehn at 232-3603 or Murdock at 369-3540. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.lymphoma.org.
E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com
