Bill Bunis sociology lecturer

Sociology lecturer Bill Bunis has been fighting a battle for about one year.

But his is not a battle against students who fail to do their work or against the university for a higher salary.

Last September, Bunis was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer called granulocytic sarcoma or chloroma, and now his only chance for survival is a bone marrow transplant.

A marrow donor has to be an almost perfect match; otherwise the body will reject it, Bunis said.

And as luck would have it, doctors found a match for Bunis last week.

"I never believed that I would find a match, and now, I've at least got a fighting chance," he said.

Bunis will begin treatment at the end of this month. He said he has faced his own mortality.

"I admit to being a very hearty person about these types of things, but I'll also admit that I'm very scared," he said.

Mortality aside, Bunis knows that he cannot dwell on what might come tomorrow.

"I just want to fight the fight," he said.

A sarcoma cancer is a cancer that affects tissues such as bone, muscles, and blood vessels.

In Bunis' case tumors have spread to his throat and esophagus region and are closing in on his heart and lungs.

"It's very aggressive and they've rarely seen it at the university cancer center," Bunis said.

Chemotherapy was the first option the doctors chose in treating Bunis.

"I responded quite well to the original round of chemo, but this summer there was an obvious growth in the throat and esophagus region," he said. "When I returned from back east with my children, [the doctors] did a CAT scan and they discovered that the

cancer was back at full force."

It turns out that chemotherapy can be a very fickle thing.

"I felt indestructible after the first round of chemo (which was quite intensive), but this second round has really knocked me for a loop," Bunis said about the aftermath of the chemotherapy session. "I was just sitting there one day and boom!"

Chemotherapy is also required before a bone marrow transplant. These chemo treatments are more intense and suppressive then the

treatments Bunis has already received.

Bunis said he will not be discouraged. He is looking forward to the opportunity to watch his children grow up, and to return to the UA and continue to teach.

"Outside of my children, teaching is my life blood," he said. I love the UA and the students, and I miss it deeply."

Bunis' fellow faculty members miss him as well.

Mark Chaves, head of the sociology department, said that he hopes Bunis will be able to return to a full time capacity.

"Bill Bunis is a highly valued member of the sociology department, and we are looking forward to his return after a successful transplant," Chaves said.

Chris Marcum, a senior and president of the undergraduate sociology club, said that the club has been behind Bunis since the onset of the disease.

"At the onset of the disease, club members went to visit Bill nearly everyday while he was in the

hospital," Marcum said.

Marcum also said that the sociology club will be hosting a lecture with a speaker from the American Cancer Society sometime this month about the social issues surrounding cancer patients with special emphasis on donors, causes, and preventative research.