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His neck and underarms were swollen. His skin itched, particularly on his arms. Sleeping at night was impossible.

His symptoms started when he was 50. Though he had been fit and healthy all his life, he had contracted chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made, according to mayoclinic.org.

CLL affects a group of white blood cells called lymphocytes, which help the body fight infection. It produces abnormal, ineffective lymphocytes. The abnormal cells may eventually crowd out the healthy cells, killing the patient.

His first chemotherapy treatment eased his symptoms quickly. He was symptom-free for almost one year. But the abnormal cells continued to multiply.

His second chemo treatment staved them off for five more months — but the challenge with chemo is that the body quickly becomes resistant to it. Doctors have to apply different chemo blends to overcome resistance.

For the next few years, the different blends worked well — until November 2012, when his leukemia transformed from a chronic disease to a more aggressive form, acute myelogenous leukemia, or AML.

AML multiplies abnormal cells at an aggressive rate, posing a real concern for the patient.

But he still had hope.

All he needed was the right chemo treatment to stabilize the illness. Then he could receive a bone marrow transplant from a donor. That procedure would “help re-establish healthy stem cells by replacing unhealthy bone marrow with leukemia-free stem cells that would regenerate healthy bone marrow,” according to mayoclinic.org.

He had a donor lined up and took a heavy dosage of chemo, but he did not stabilize. He lined up another donor and was almost ready for the transplant, but his body failed to stabilize again.

At that point, his doctors pulled out all the stops. They applied the most aggressive blends of chemo they had. But the AML resisted and got stronger.

Don Krieger passed away 13 years ago. He was my childhood friend — the big brother I, an only boy with five sisters, never had.

He was one of the funniest, most cheerful people you could ever meet. And all who knew him marveled at the grace and humor with which he fought that disease.

I write about him now because we can all do something to help people like him.

First, we can consider becoming bone marrow donors to help heal others like Don (go to marrow.org).

Second, we can donate blood on a regular basis. Patients like Don need blood transfusions almost daily, but there is a critical blood shortage right now.

Earlier this year, the American Red Cross reported that the national blood supply was down 35% — partly the result of extreme winter weather, which caused the cancellation of more than 400 blood drives.

Also, as America experienced its worst flu season in nearly 20 years, thousands of potential donors were sidelined.

Now we are in the midst of vacation season, when donors are typically few and far between — but we can buck that trend by visiting RedCrossBlood.org to schedule an appointment.

The least I can do to honor Don’s sizable memory is donate a little blood.

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Copyright 2026 Tom Purcell, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

See Tom Purcell’s syndicated column, humor books and funny videos featuring his dog, Thurber, at TomPurcell.com. Email him at Tom@TomPurcell.com.

Copyright 2026 Tom Purcell, All Rights Reserved. Credit: Cagle.com