Former Schaumburg principal battles rare cancer
The neuropathy in Bernie Lucier's feet mean he can't walk as much in the neighborhood or on the golf course as he used to. Lytic lesions in his bones leave him weaker and more tired than he once was.
But the former longtime District 54 principal has no intention to give up his fight against multiple myeloma, a rare, uncurable blood cancer that affects plasma cells in the blood.
Lucier, 66, was principal at Dirksen Elementary from 1972 to 1985, and at Blackwell Elementary from 1985 until his retirement in 1999.
Those were good years.
"You get a good feeling of helping parents, students, and teachers to come together to reach their goals," said Lucier.
Last August, Lucier was golfing in Fish Creek, Wis., where he and his wife, Joy, own a condominium, when he complained of hip and back pain.
He had a checkup. One day shortly thereafter, Joy called Bernie to tell him the doctor was at their house with X-ray and CT scan results. The results confirmed that Bernie had multiple myeloma.
"Twenty years ago, treatments weren't available. I would have been dead in three to seven months," said Bernie.
Multiple myeloma is an aggressive cancer that affects plasma cells in the blood and bone marrow, which create antibodies. The disease is incurable but it can be forced into remission.
"Bernie and I didn't want to tell our children until we knew for sure what it was we were facing," said Joy. However, son Michael Lucier, 33, and daughter Colette Bell, 36, had already started researching their father's symptoms when they became concerned about his frequent doctor visits.
"When we heard he hadn't golfed in nearly a month, we started to piece together that something was out of the ordinary," said Michael.
Bernie and Joy broke the news on Labor Day weekend what the doctor had told them in August.
"Because we knew something was up, it was more about how are we going to fight it" than shock and disbelief, said Michael.
"Even the night before they came home, I knew the news would be bad. I cried in bed at 4 a.m.," said Bell.
Lucier began treatment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in November. The initial treatment was intense chemotherapy that killed many cells, cancerous and healthy, in Lucier's body. It left him feeling hung over.
After chemotherapy, stem cells harvested from Lucier's body were reintroduced in order to reproduce healthy blood cells. Lucier got this treatment on Jan. 4, and his cancer is currently in remission.
However, the treatment is not a cure, and chances are at some point he will relapse. He is scheduled for another stem cell transplant in May, to help extend his remission time.
"We're trying to live our life as normally as we can, given the circumstances," Lucier said.
Michael and Colette have both signed up for the Chicago Rock 'N' Roll half marathon on Aug. 1, which raises money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. In one month they have raised nearly $15,000.
"Our initial goal was $5,000, and we had that within the first 24 hours," said Michael.
"Bad things happen all the time. When you have something incurable you have this feeling of helplessness. I'm so proud of our children that took the initiative to raise money for research to try and do something," said Joy.
Lucier is taken aback at the outpouring of support he has received since his diagnosis. He has a manila envelope stuffed with get-well cards and other tokens of appreciation.
A lifelong Green Bay Packers fan and season ticket holder, he got a get-well card from the Packers organization signed by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and a football signed by every member of the 2009 team.
"I've never met a single person that didn't have something positive to say about Bernie. I think that separates him from everyone else I've met," said Michael.
• For details on Michael and Colette's fundraising, visit active.com/donate/2010ChicagoHALF/TeamLucier.