I can’t believe my last update was in 2019. I truly apologize
if that caused any concern about my recovery.
Fact is, I’m pleased to report all is going well. I’m pretty much back to normal life. My hair is back. My weight is back to pre-treatment
levels. I’m active and doing as much as
I feel I can within the confines of the pandemic. When COVID first appeared, my oncologist
warned me to be extremely vigilant…saying that I was extremely vulnerable to a
bad result because I was immunosuppressed.
However, once I got to my two-year anniversary of the transplant, his
concerns were diminished to the point that he felt I was pretty much in the
same boat as everyone with regard to COVID.
As a transplant patient, I was able to get my vaccine early in the game…on
my birthday in January, actually. I have
since gotten my booster shot and am as well protected as is possible. Additionally, I participated in a clinical
trial to determine if the vaccine would be effective in building antibodies to mitigate
an infection. The results were that I
have ample antibodies generated by the vaccine to fend off the disease. Surprisingly, I also carry antibodies from
having HAD the disease. So apparently, I
did get COVID at one point this past Spring.
I was completely asymptomatic…never knew I had it.
I am no longer taking any cancer related drugs. I’ve had a few bone marrow biopsies and with
even the most cutting edge diagnostics, I’m very happy to report that no cancer
cells can be detected for either multiple myeloma or leukemia. Someone upstairs is definitely watching over
me. I’ve very grateful.
On the subject of gratitude, meet Jake. Jake is a 30-year old gentleman living in
London. Jake literally saved my
life. Jake has been a regular blood
donor over the years and checked a box to indicate he would be open to donating
stem cells if someone in need matched up to him. I was that person in need and when Jake was
asked if he wanted to follow through in the painful process of sending his cells
to a stranger, he didn’t hesitate. He underwent
the procedure (underwent literally…he went under!) to harvest his stem cells. The cells were immediately sent via courier
to my hospital room. They were transplanted
to replace my blood DNA. And now, Jake
and I are literally blood brothers.
During the initial two years after my transplant, we were able to send
communications to each other through the blood marrow donor registry with the
caveat that no personal identifying info could be exchanged. After two years, we were able to connect and
we’ve actually had a live online session where I met Jake and his family. Jake and his lovely fiancé, Emily, are
scheduled to be married in September in Greece.
We are invited to attend, but it is our hope that we can actually gather
in Europe next summer prior to the wedding.
It all depends on the COVID situation.
I cannot express enough how grateful I am to this young man. He did all of this out of the goodness of his
heart. He is truly a mensch in every
sense of the word.
Once again, sorry if I got anyone worried by not doing an
update. I’ll try to do better.
