Mel was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in January 1995 and given three years to live. The only possible hope for survival was a bone marrow transplant. Despite numerous marrow donor drives and adding thousands of people to the marrow registry, he never found a donor. Mel entered the phase 1 clinical trial of Gleevec (imatinib) in 1998. He is the world’s longest living Gleevec, TKI, and Kinase Inhibitor survivor. Mel continues to serve the cancer community as a patient advocate and volunteer.