Our papa/grampy - Douglas J. Duff was a wonderful man. He was witty, brilliant, supportive, creative, and exceptionally kind and loving. He faced this blood cancer journey with bravery, humour, and determination. He showed us through his journey, the importance of living life wholeheartedly and authentically. We are forever blessed to have had him as a father and grandfather, and to have learned so much about life from walking beside him through his blood cancer journey.
In February 2017, we learned that grampy's chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) had transformed to Stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (Richter Transformation). He underwent chemotherapy (R-CHOP and Methotrexate) and reached remission from the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in July of 2017. In August, he started an allogenic stem cell transplant, with a 9/10 match from the world donor bank. On one of our first walks on Unit 57, during a week-long stay for methotrexate, we noticed a banner displayed – a Light The Night (LTN) Banner. Dad asked about LTN, and upon hearing about it, made it his mission to attend Light The Night and walk into the ‘Circle of Survivors’ and proudly raise his white lantern high in the air. For our family, a white lantern became a beacon of hope. The ‘Circle of Survivors’ came up many times, especially on the darkest days following his stem cell transplant.
Fast forward, 3 months post-transplant - his CLL was in remission, we moved out of Calgary and back to my dad’s home. Things felt very hopeful, but unfortunately everything changed dramatically on November 14, 2017. He woke up and said “I feel as bad as I did during the worst days of the transplant.” In the days that followed, everything spun out of control. He had stage 4 acute and stage 4 chronic graft-versus-host (GVH), and he wasn’t responding to any of the traditional methods used to suppress GVH. The GVH quickly ravaged his body – first attacking his entire gastrointestinal tract, then taking his eye sight and mobility. In a last-ditch effort, the doctors allowed him to try a new GVH drug currently being tested in clinical trials, which unfortunately didn’t yield positive results. Our wonderful dad and grampy passed away on December 10, 2017.
Dad was the captain of our family, and after his passing, our boat was capsizing in grief. That is until the Calgary Light The Night walk in 2018. We signed up for the walk in the spring of 2018, but honestly, didn’t know if we would attend. We woke up on the morning of the walk, and decided we needed to go – that dad would want us to go. In a few hours we raised $1,000 and headed to Calgary. The walk was beautiful and touching. An entire community of people rallying together, and for the first time since his passing, we didn’t feel completely alone. The walk was a turning point for us – it gave us strength and comfort.
We still miss our amazing Grampy. All the time. When we're feeling blue, we wish he could give us a bear hug and somehow always say the right thing. We miss his boisterous laugh, and the look he’d give us when we'd link our arm in his and walk together down the sidewalk – talking and catching up. Dad was a force of love and effervescence, and our world just isn’t the same without him. Light The Night enables us to remember him, honour him, and fundraise to fund innovative research, in the hopes that our efforts can prevent others from having to say goodbye to their amazing Grampy.
