On December 24, 2007, after 4-1/2 years of being cancer free, the news came that Eric McLean's leukemia had relpased. At 23 years old and having just graduated from college, Eric is determined as ever to beat it once again, and L.I.F.E. has been recreated. The Leukemia Ironman Fundraiser for Eric was founded in the summer of 2003 following his first diagnosis with AML (Acute Myelogenous Leukemia). In a little over a month, $12,000 was raised and donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for cancer research. Eric's older brother Mike ran in the Ironman Wisconsin that fall to help draw even further attention, hence the name in the title. This time we hope to better that effort, as Mike will again be competing in the Ironman Wisconsin this year, as well as another triathlon at Eric's recent alma mater; at UW Whitewater on Sunday, April 27, 2008. With your help we can put a very positive spin on this situation. The donation you make today will help us continue to make a difference in the quality of life of those battling with leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Your secure online tax-deductible donation will help fund lifesaving research, education, and patient services while providing help and hope to thousands, and you will feel good about yourself too! Also please check back for daily updates from Eric on his blog, new pictures as they are posted, and to see how well the fundraiser is coming along! Thank you!!
-The McLean Family 
World Class Athletes Donate to L.I.F.E. April 22, 2008 - Two of Mike's coworkers who are professional track athletes and former UW Madison students, Simon Bairu and Chris Solinsky, donated a combined $2,000.00!! to Eric for his medical expenses today. Both are 2008 Beijing Olympic hopefuls and will be competing in the Olympic Trials in just a couple of months. We can't thank them enough for their kindness and generosity, and we'll be cheering for them blowing away the competition as they run for their dreams. 
Simon Bairu | 
Chris Solinsky
|
| World Famous Artist Comes to our Aid Anthony Padgett - 2007 Ducks Unlimited International Artist of the Year, has donated one hundred 9"x11" prints of a pair of chickadees for us to auction off to help with the fundraiser. Both Anthony's talent for art, and his contribution to LIFE, are absolutely incredible. Details will be posted soon!
|
Two Rivers student fights leukemia for second time
By
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Gannett Wisconsin Media 
| TWO RIVERS — The fading bruise on Eric McLean's left arm is a constant reminder of the balance he's struggled to find between victim and survivor. In the back of his mind, the 23-year-old knows it appeared in October 2007 — when he was just another college student, taking in the last few weeks of school before graduation would catapult him into a new world. He was a leukemia survivor with 4½ years in remission, and he was ready to take on a new job and a new definition of life. But looking at the outline of the same bruise today, his arm rests on a Froedtert hospital bed. He's finishing chemotherapy, he's a day away from radiation, and in two days, he'll have a bone marrow transplant. Today, that bruise marks the first in a string of signs that led to the realization that Eric wasn't well again.
It begins.
|
Read more...
Reality bites
By
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Gannett Wisconsin Media
Life sure gives a good slap in the face.
I had been real content feeling sorry for myself the past month or so. You know the drill — gas prices are insane, school board budget meetings are beginning to make my brain ache, the George W. Bush economy is going to screw me out of retirement in 50 years, and in some bizarre twist, global warming has continuously dumped mountains of snow on the Lakeshore.
Anyone down for a pity party?
Enter Eric McLean — the only person I’ve met in the recent past who has earned himself a free pass to that party, and yet one of the few who really has no interest in being there. He’s got cancer, which by my definition, gives him the right to feel whatever he wants — miserable, angry, disappointed, whatever.
He doesn’t. But shouldn’t he? Read more... |
