Staff photo by Fritz Busch Drew Aufderheide, second from left, and his fiance Kelly Kelly throw colored powder at 5k runners and walkers at the Drew’s Crew 5k Colorfest at Harman Park Saturday.

NEW ULM — Drew Aufderheide talked humbly about his battle with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and thanked his supporters prior to the Drew’s Crew 5k Colorfest at Harman Park Saturday.

“You’re absolutely incredible. And thank you to Kelly, my fiance, who makes life amazing when life sometimes isn’t amazing,” Aufderheide said.

“Living with incurable cancer is always a challenge. After you take chemotherapy for as long as I have, different things happen to your body. Things get worse,” he added. “You have to try to learn to continue to live with it. Last night at dinner, I had to take my shoes off because my feet were burning so bad.”

Aufderheide said five years ago, he only had neuropathy in his hands that came and went. Now, it’s pretty constant in his arms and hands, from his elbows down, so gripping and small, motor movements are becoming more and more challenging.

“I threw up twice this week in the morning and was on my hands and knees before I was able to do something I like, like helping a client at their home,” said Aufderheide.

“Overall, I’m doing pretty wonderful. You have a choice. If you have a bad day, you can lay down and call it done early. But most of the time, I try to be as upbeat and positive as I can and deal with it,” he added.

The 5k Colorfest which includes auctions help Aufderheide pay for his medication and other medical expenses that run into tens of thousands of dollars a year. He has to pay for his own medical insurance, which doesn’t cover anywhere near all his medical costs.

Public response to the first few Drew’s Crew 5k Colorfests were greater than in recent years.

His cancer is so rare, the medication is not produced in bulk and comes from a lab in Switzerland.

Aufderheide was a gym manger and personal trainer at Anytime Fitness in New Ulm when he was diagnosed with CML nearly 10 years ago at age 30. Only 5,000 people a year are diagnosed with CML, caused by a chromosomal change.

He will be required to take a CML maintenance chemotherapy drug for the rest of his life or until a cure is found.

The disease is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow characterized by a genetic change in one’s DNA in which pieces of chromosomes 9 and 22 fuse together.

Called the Philadelphia Chromosome, the chromosome fusion creates a cancer gene that turns on unregulated growth of white blood cells.

There is no known way to prevent most cases of CML, according to the American Cancer Society. The only potentially avoidable risk factor for CML is exposure to high doses of radiation, which applies to very few people.

Sam Nilson of New Ulm was the first male 5k finisher. Katie Beers of Springfield was the first female finisher.

For more information, visit https://www.drewscrew.org