At age 57, Lou was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which destroys the body’s ability to make normal-functioning blood cells. With his blood counts dropping rapidly, weekly transfusions kept Lou alive for two months before he received a marrow transplant. He also needed transfusions after the transplant and during complications from two emergency surgeries.

Too sick at the time to tally the exact number of units of blood he received, Lou now says, “it seemed like gallons.”

Eighteen months after his marrow transplant, Lou competed in the White Pine 50-kilometer cross-country ski race, “to prove to myself I had really beat the MDS.”

He also wanted to donate blood “to repay society for all it had given me,” but when he learned that his previous illness made him ineligible to donate, he decided to keep doing the ski race “to give inspiration and hope to people.”

Today, Lou continues to ski, bike, sail, and enjoy “even the little things that are normally taken for granted.” In 2004 he skied the 50K race while being treated for prostate cancer and recovering from hernia surgery. In 2005, his sporting activities included a 50-mile bicycle trek.

“It’s not easy being an inspiration,” he says wryly. “But I’m determined to show people there is hope.”

© Michigan Community Blood Centers