It's taken me a week to be able to write about this. On July 2nd, a man I never met and very minimally communicated with died of complications due to a double-cord transplant he had almost a year ago.
The first time I heard about Graham and his battle with leukemia was reading a post his wife Sam had written on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Discussion Boards asking for input and advice. Graham and Sam live in Australia, and felt they'd exhausted treatment options there. Sam sent me several emails, and as a fellow double-cord transplantee, I shared whatever I knew about the procedure, the recovery and the emotional stress of the whole process.
Graham, who was 44, traveled to the U.S. to have his transplant at the Fred Hutchinson Center in Seattle, WA. To pay for the transplant, the family started a massive fundraising campaign. This campaign continues and can be found here.
I have been following Graham's story closely since the Spring of 2008. I remember running in the CVS-Providence 5k last September thinking about him and his struggles, gaining strength and inspiration from his determination to beat this brutal disease (and he did beat it, dying disease-free). I've often thought to myself, compared to Graham, I have skirmished; he has truly battled.
Though we never met face to face, I've walked in Graham's shoes and he's walked in mine. This may seem like an odd bond, but it's a very real one. With of the loss of Graham, I lost something, too.
Today is Graham's memorial service. You can be sure I'll be thinking about Sam, his two young children, friends and loved ones. I wish them solace, great memories and a maelstrom of love. I'm feeling sad, but I continue to be inspired by this man I came to know through his amazing story.
Walk on, Graham, peacefully, hearing the tunes you love.
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Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
Tale of a Cord Blood Transplantee Who Relapses and Goes on to Have a Matched Unrelated-Donor Transplant
The Weight
Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
ABOUT ME
In March 2006, I was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Life as I knew it came to a crashing halt. After enduring a month in the hospital where I received intense chemotherapy, I was declared "in remission." I had three additional treatments and remained cancer-free until May 2007, when I relapsed.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
5 comments:
Beautifully put.
I never met or even talked with him, but I was following his story and thought he had made it. (And in a way, as you said, he did.) Very sad.
Thanks pj. I am crying now. Graham's service yesterday was truely beautiful and I am so proud of our children. I couldn't cry yesterday though. It was too surreal. I just can't belive he is gone.
Sam xx
Beautifully done, PJ.
God bless you, Sam, and your children. Rest in peace, Graham.
Jim
Sending huge hugs and love to Graham's family and to you.
xo-Lea
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