Leukemia victim Dan Putnam is surrounded by his family, sister Deanna on the left, mother Susan (back) and father Gary on the right, with girlfriend Emily Rafferty seated next to him. Dan has progressed from 18 pills per day last June to seven pills per day at this time. His mother Susan attributes the improvement in his health to all the support he has received from friends and relatives. Photograph by Walter Horylev.

Local man focused on future, regardless of disease

With the New Year comes new hope for 27-year-old Hilton native Dan Putnam. He was diagnosed with leukemia on June 26, but has battled back and is hoping to enter remission in early spring.

"I couldn't have gotten this at a better time," says Putnam as he sits at his parents' dining room table. He looks like a different person than he did just a month ago when the pain and exhaustion made living a day-to-day adventure.

With Christmas a week away, at the time of the interview for this article, Putnam has made a list, but it isn't anything that will fit under the tree.

He has signed up for a gym membership at the Workout Warehouse in the hopes of building up stamina. He will be tested again in January and is pushing to get his number of infected cells down to zero. If he can do that, Putnam has been told his doctor will begin the process of searching for a bone marrow match. While the chances of finding a match are close to one in a million, there are several million donors already in the registry.

A match would mean transplant surgery. Surgery would mean three months recovery. As long as the marrow takes, Putnam will make a strong comeback.

So the New Year's resolution is get healthy - stay healthy.

If all goes according to his plan, Putnam will head back to the University of Buffalo in the fall of 2004 to continue his degree in architecture. He is ready for things to go back to normal, but he also knows that normal will never be the same.

"You really begin to realize what is important," said Putnam. "My list of priorities went from 100 to five."

Putnam, who graduated from Hilton High school in 1994, had just finished up his second year at Buffalo and returned to his summer job at Pettis Pools when he realized something was wrong.

He was feeling pain in his legs that led him to initially take a trip to the emergency room in June. The initial diagnosis was a pulled muscle in his oblique and a torn quad. He was given medicine and instructions to care for it, but the pain did not go away.

He returned to the emergency room a week later and this time the diagnosis was much more grim. Putnam has Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, a deadly disease that is usually reserved for middle-aged individuals.

"The reason his leg was hurting so bad is because of the hematoma in it, which was the size of a grapefruit or softball at the time," said Matt Vidas, a friend of Putnam's. "The doctor examining the hematoma apparently said it was the largest they had ever seen in a leg."

They also had to remove Putnam's spleen, which had grown to over 20 lbs. (The average weight of an adult spleen is less than a half of a pound).

In the following months, Putnam was forced to return to the hospital for five-day stays twice. He started to turn a corner in November in time for a donor drive held for him at the Hilton Big M. While the timing may have been coincidental, his mother, Susan, said the community support gave strength to the whole family.

"You lose how connected you are to the community," said Susan. "I guess we really took Hilton for granted. I didn't realize how much kindness there is."

Six months has made a lifetime of difference for Putnam who can now see a future that had once disappeared.

"The doctor said I would reach this turning point," said Putnam. "I was starting to wonder if it was going to happen."

Putnam will be getting together with close friends for New Year's and Christmas will be about family, not presents. The family decided to forsake gift giving because they wanted to concentrate on each other and because they are not sure what medical costs could be coming down the road.

With a new year in sight, Putnam will focus on remaining positive and on his future. For that opportunity he is thankful.

"I can see days down the road now, and actually plan things in advance," said Putnam. "I can see an end to all this."

To help Dan Putnam, and others with Leukemia, contact the Red Cross at 1-800-462-7764. There will be some donor drives coming to this area in January. For information on assisting the Putnams financially please e-mail helpdanp@rochester.rr.com.