Dan’s Story

Site created on March 25, 2022

The last couple of years have thrown all of us some serious curveballs and Dan's story is no exception. While he expected the hardest part of 2022 would be continuing to wait until it was safe to see his "grandtwins" during the pandemic, none of us could have expected what March 2022 held. While on a ski trip, Dan began to feel sick, which he attributed to the altitude. He went to urgent care since the ski bum in him was itching to get on the slopes. There, he found his oxygen was dangerously low- in the 70s. So, he got some supplemental oxygen and was told again, that the altitude was causing his symptoms. He took it easy for the rest of his trip and remained on oxygen. 


Once in Denver, his oxygen levels greatly improved and Dan headed home to San Diego/Laguna Beach. He still felt "off" and sluggish. Though he was negative for Covid, he assumed he had some other kind of bug. On March 18, Dan knew something wasn't right and his friend Steve, a cardiologist, encouraged him to go to the emergency room fearing that something more serious could be wrong. We are forever thankful to Steve because who knows how long Dan would have put off being seen, not wanting to worry us all. He went to Scripps Encinitas emergency room where they did bloodwork to try to find answers to what was causing his symptoms. Later, the hematologist came back with the results which showed an extremely/abnormally high white blood cell count, which they determined was indicative of cancer, specifically, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Doctors were quick to share that this type of cancer is often missed due to being asymptomatic in many and that Dan was very fortunate he caught it early on.


This is not the Linge's first cancer rodeo, as Dan's wife, Beth, was diagnosed with BALT, Bronchial Associated Lymphomic Tissue Cancer  in 2011. Thankfully, this caused her to advocate hard for doctors to do further testing about Dan's cancer and to get him where he would get the absolute best treatment. Scripps Encinitas was not equipped to treat Dan and he was transferred to Scripps Green.  Soon after that transfer, a few days after initially going to the ER, Beth's oncologist, Dr. Mulroney took Dan on as her patient and transferred him to UCSD. He was put on the Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) floor, which is Dr. Mulroney's area of expertise. 


Dr. Mulroney is extremely thorough and while starting chemotherapy treatment as soon as possible was important, she wanted to find specifically what needed to be targeted to give Dan the best chances of going into remission. And yes, that is a total possibility! A bone marrow biopsy found that Dan's cancer was low risk AML (which is used to measure the severity of the cancer instead of stages). 


On March 24th, Dan started his chemotherapy infusion at UCSD. His treatment is an aggressive approach that requires him to be hooked to his chemo IV 24/7 for a week straight. After his treatment, he will remain on the BMT floor as his body reproduces all his cells (yes, even the "good" ones) for an estimated six weeks. The next steps rely on how his body responds to the chemo and we all have a lot of faith in his wonderful doctor, amazing hospital team and of course, modern medicine. 


That brings us to today! Anyone who has met Dan knows his heart and the genuine love he has for others, whether they are a close friend or a stranger. In fact, right around the time of his diagnosis, Dan had finally met his goal of growing his hair long enough to donate to an organization that will make wigs for cancer patients. After two long years, he is ready to donate his hair to another, as he begins his own cancer treatment that will make him lose the hair he worked so hard to grow.


Please save this website or download the CaringBridge app to check back for posts and updates on how Dan is doing. This is only the beginning of a long road but having the support of loved ones is its own special kind of medicine. Because Dan has so many people who care for him and want to know how he is doing, this page will be updated regularly with any information about his wellbeing. On a personal level, I want to help keep everyone informed so that my mom, Beth, can stay present and focused instead of trying to keep everyone in the loop. Please feel free to leave a message or "well wishes" on this page so he can get them all in one place. Our family will not be accepting any types of donations; all we ask for is your support and positive thoughts during this time. Thanks for following along as Dan the man kicks this cancer’s ass!

Newest Update

March 15, 2024

Journal entry by Beth Linge —

Wow!! It really has been a while since I’ve written! My sweet friend, Fran told me she gets worried when she doesn’t see an update, so I apologize to any of you who might be worrying. I was trying to hold out till we got Dan’s latest bone marrow biopsy and that FINALLY happened when we saw Dr Mulroney earlier this week.

We are so very excited to tell you Dan’s biopsy was clean!! He is also now at 95% engraftment, but his chimerism count is only at 76%. If you remember, I previously explained that a chimera is a person who has cells from 2 different sources. The ultimate goal, of course, is to be at 100%. Mulroney said it could be several reasons for that…..a.) that he’s still on Tacro (the anti-rejection med) and b.) he’s still on 15 mg of Prednisone/day (down from his original 90 mg to remedy the GVHD 😳). He’s being weened off both; not sure how long that will take. At that time, she’ll also consider taking out his PICC line that has been in for 8 months. 

Dan continues to deal with his Foot Drop. It’s annoying, not painful. Again, drs aren’t sure if it’s a result of chemo or a pinched nerve behind his knee. He started PT and they’re confident he’ll get back his range of motion.

Another positive thing is that we only have to be at Moores Cancer’s infusion room once a week now to do labs and meet with Mulroney. That’s a huge step!

But the most positive thing that is happening right now is that we are starting a new chapter in our lives and moving to Laguna fulltime starting 3/28! We’re downsizing and simplifying our lives! It all happened so quickly….Dan put the house on the market, we got an offer within 3 weeks and the buyer wanted a quick escrow, so here we are…..packing, packing, packing! Thankfully, Laguna is a short drive from Encinitas/San Diego, so we’re not leaving, just moving a bit further away. I’ll continue my book club and wine group and Dan will continue golfing with his buddies.  After 4 long years, McKenna flew in for a couple of days to say goodbye to the only home she knew growing up. It was a great visit!

Thank you, as always for all the love and support you give us!! It continues to amaze us! We also can never thank our unbelievable nurses enough on the BMT floor and at Moores!! Their compassion, kindness and love keep us going! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!🧡






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