The year was 1994, I was diagnosed with Multicentric Plasma Cell Variant Castleman’s disease. Since Castleman’s disease is such a rare disease along with fewer Castleman’s cases reported in 1994; I had to do my own research and be my own best advocate when it came to treating and taking care of my own health (I was the only Castleman’s patient my Oncologist had ever seen or treated at that time). The case studies and statistic’s I researched didn’t have very positive outcomes; a 3-5 year lifespan after original diagnosis… not very good! Castleman’s disease had impacted my life where I couldn’t go on my 8 mile runs anymore, I couldn’t go to the gym anymore, and the biggest of all was that I couldn’t surf anymore (a huge passion of mine since the age of 11). I got to the point where I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without almost passing out. I was sleeping 24-36 hours straight, barely eating, and down 40 lbs. from where I am today. The quality of my life was not there and I was slowly slipping down a slope I didn’t want to go down! I was in a mental state of not knowing how long I would live for and having a very difficult time interpreting & digesting what was suddenly thrust upon me. Since being diagnosed, my Oncologist (Dr. James Sinclair) here in San Diego has had me on a multitude of treatment plans. Reason being is that eventually each one of the treatment plans I was on the drugs would lose their efficacy and my disease would raise its ugly head again and the quality of my life would revert back to how it was pre-treatment. In 2009, through the work of a great family friend in the Biotech industry along with Dr. James Sinclair; they were able to get me a Compassionate Use IND of a new drug not FDA approved yet named Tocilizumab. The year is now 2015 and 21 years later I have proven the statistic’s wrong. I still go in for my every-other Tuesday Chemotherapy infusions of the Tocilizumab, but I’m very grateful and the infusions are part of what I need to do to survive my own battle with Castleman’s disease. I have been so blessed for the health that I do have now; it’s time to “pay-back!” Unfortunately, the drug that has worked for me is neither a cure nor treatment that works for all Castleman’s Disease patients. I’m working to bring awareness to physicians and to raise funds for more research to hopefully find a cure for this rare, poorly understood, and deadly disease. Please help me fight back against Castleman’s Disease for the many thousands of Castleman’s patients that are in the midst of fighting their own deadly battle by donating to this cause… I’m a Castleman’s Warrior! With great appreciation, Chris Kimura