July 09, 2021
Motorcycle racing champion in remission after leukemia clinical trial
朗达·温德勒（Ronda Wendler）
作为越野摩托车赛车最伟大的传奇人物之一，Destry Abbott被用来将自己的身体推向极限。这就是为什么他开始感到精疲力尽并在五年前感到痛苦时知道某事是不对劲的原因。
他说：“我的家庭医生认为我可能患有慢性疲劳综合症或莱姆病。”“但不是this。”
“This” was急性淋巴细胞白血病，或全部 - 血液和骨髓的侵略性癌。
到达急性淋巴细胞白血病诊断
迪斯特里（Destry）得知他在爱达荷州的一场比赛中退出比赛后一切。他整个月都接受了训练，准备参加比赛，但是他到达后立即出现身体症状。
“我只能在喘不过气来之前走几英尺。我的能量为零，我的腿受到了严重的伤害，我以为我打破了它。”
他短暂地削减了旅行，飞往亚利桑那州。
他说：“我从来没有退出任何事情，但我别无选择。”“我不明白我的身体发生了什么。我所知道的是，我从感觉不好变成了几天之内我快要死的感觉。”
When Destry landed in Phoenix, he went straight to the hospital.
Blood tests和骨髓活检透露他有费城染色体阳性，，，，the most aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It occurs when pieces of chromosomes 9 and 11 break off and switch places. One-fourth of adult patients with ALL, including Destry, have this chromosomal rearrangement.
他说：“最后，这都是有道理的。”“骨头疼痛，fatigue我经历的呼吸急促都是白血病的经典症状。”
The road to MD Anderson for acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment
医生建议Destry开始chemotherapy立即地。癌细胞入侵了他90％的骨髓，这解释了他的腿部疼痛。他们说，没有化学疗法，他将在三天内死亡。
Destry回忆说：“我直接从急诊室转到病房。”“我什至没有机会回家打包包。”
For two months, he stayed in that room where he received infusions of hyper-CVAD – a high-dose combination of the chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide, vincristine sulfate, doxorubicin hydrochloride (Adriamycin) and dexamethasone. The drugs were so powerful that they had to be divided into small doses and given several times each day.
“那种化学疗法给我打击了我，”迪斯特里说。“在我的白血病诊断前六年，当摩托车穿过弗拉格斯塔夫的沙漠时，我被闪电击中。我遭受了烧毁的视网膜，一年使我蒙蔽了一年，心跳不规则，花了六个月才能稳定。对我来说，这比化学疗法容易。”
Only two months into his eight-month treatment plan, he told his wife, Charlotte, that he probably wouldn’t survive the treatment.
他回忆说：“从心理和身体上讲，我才完成。”“医生并没有给我太大的希望。”
夏洛特无意让她的丈夫放弃。她着手找到另一家可以为丈夫提供更好预后的医院。来自埃尔帕索（El Paso）的家人朋友和越野摩托车爱好者史蒂夫·福克斯（Steve Fox）建议MD Anderson。
“I was treated forhead and neck cancer20 years ago at MD Anderson, and my care was exceptional,” says Fox, who remains cancer-free. “Everyone was very compassionate and supportive – at MD Anderson, it’s all about the patient.”
急性淋巴细胞白血病的临床试验
Days later, Destry and Charlotte arrived at MD Anderson where they met withMichael Wang, M.D.
“我们可以为您提供帮助，”王说。“您将拥有最好的，最新的治疗方法。您的生存机会非常好。”
自诊断以来，Destry首次感到充满希望。
“我的stress started to melt away,” he says. “I knew immediately that MD Anderson was where I needed to be.”
王将命运转介给白血病专家Elias Jabbour，医学博士，他领导MD Andersonclinical trial适用于费城阳性的患者。
参与者在亚利桑那州获得了相同的超瓦德疗法的赛道，但他们也接受了口头攻击有针对性的疗法pill called ponatinib. Jabbour likens ponatinib to a “targeted weapon” because it zeros in on and blocks a protein produced by the Philadelphia chromosome that stimulates leukemia cells to grow.
“Let’s do it,” Destry said. “I give 100% to everything I do, and that includes battling cancer.”
加入临床试验三天后，他告诉夏洛特，毕竟他将通过治疗来实现。
夏洛特说：“这就是我一直在等待的声音。”“我丈夫回来了。”
面对白血病和乳腺癌一起诊断
在MD Anderson，Destry收到了八次Hyper-CVAD输液，每月一次。每种治疗都需要五天的住院时间。
To kill any remaining cancer cells that may have escaped and fled to the brain, he also underwent 12 lumbar punctures during which the chemotherapy drugs methotrexate and cytarabine were injected into his spinal fluid.
Jabbour解释说：“当白血病细胞从脊髓液传播到大脑时，多达三分之一的费城阳性患者均复发。”“我们先抢先将化学疗法直接发送到大脑，以防止这种情况。”
当Destry准备接受他的第五次Hyper-CVAD输液时，夏洛特收到了一些毁灭性的消息：她的乳房肿块是癌症。
“我在这里，试图保持我的丈夫积极，现在我已经乳腺癌，” she says. “We were both in our 40s and had been completely healthy until now. What are the odds we’d get two cancer diagnoses in three months?”
随着夫妻俩的生活，他们的女儿凯尔西（Kelsey）当时24岁，辞去了在加利福尼亚摩托车制造商的营销部门的工作，以支持她的父母。她的兄弟库珀（Cooper）成为一名出色的越野摩托车赛车手，他的父母在康复期间欢呼雀跃，继续在比赛中表现出色。
夏洛特说：“那是我们一生中最艰难的时期，但我们团结在一起并保持坚强。”缓解两年后chemotherapy，，，，辐射和手术在亚利桑那州。
A complete molecular remission
开始MD Anderson临床试验仅四个月后，Destry收到了一些受欢迎的消息。他正在完全分子缓解。这意味着即使有最敏感的测试，他的体内也无法发现白血病细胞。
他说：“我只是在审判中进行一半，而且他们已经找不到任何白血病细胞了。”
完成审判后，他回到了亚利桑那州。遵循贾布尔（Jabbour）的指示，一名当地肿瘤学家进行了24个预防性化疗周期，以防止Destry的癌症返回。
Five years have passed, and Destry is still cancer-free. He returns to MD Anderson every six months for checkups. Every night, he takes a ponatinib pill to keep cancer at bay.
He recently retired from racing and opened a motorcycle riding school named DA8 – his initials, following by his racing number.
Off-road enthusiasts from all over the country sign up for classes where they learn to race motorcycles over rough terrain. Three-mile-long courses are filled with obstacles, including boulders, logs, sand and mud, water holes and giant tires, which motorcyclists must skillfully navigate in their race to the finish line.
Destry和Charlotte还成立了一个非营利基金会，以改善癌症患者及其家人的生活质量。
Destry说：“当我们接受治疗时，我们的惊人家人，朋友和摩托车社区通过提供餐食，交通，房屋清洁，跑步跑步和其他急需的支持来帮助我们。”“并非每个受癌症影响的人都有这种帮助。我们想向前付款。”
Back to MD Anderson
伴随着癌症的过去，当夏洛特开始经历背痛时，这对夫妻正恢复正常的例行程序。她将其归结为剧烈的身体健身锻炼。但是MRI表明三年后，癌症恢复了。这次，它固定在她的脊椎和臀部。
“我们计划回到MD Anderson，” Destry说。“我们不会为其他任何事情安定下来。”
但是在她第一次任命乳腺癌肿瘤学家的第一位MD Anderson前一周Nuhad Ibrahim, M.D.，，，，a sliding gate on the couple’s property came off its tracks and hit Charlotte from behind, breaking her back. She’s currently receiving chemotherapy and physical therapy in Arizona while she learns to walk again.
“We’ll get to Houston as soon as we can,” Destry says. “I know firsthand the healing power of MD Anderson. That’s the kind of care I want for Charlotte.”
Request an appointment at MD Anderson online或致电1-877-632-6789。