Guest guest Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 Sue, it's always great to hear from an 8-year transplant survivor! Like you, I felt that transplant was well worth the risk if it offered me the possibility of getting my life back. I had to go through two chemo regimens and relapse twice before my doctors finally agreed with me that transplant was a sensible course of action. I've been extremely lucky in that I had no complications during the tandem transplant process and still have no GvHD to speak of. Dry eyes, dry skin, dry hair, that's about the extent of it. So of course I have no regrets and am deeply grateful for the medical expertise that saved my life, and of course, for the generosity of my bone marrow donor, a gentleman whom I hope to meet this summer. May our respective complete remissions continue till we die in our sleep at a ripe old age! Since the doctors won't let us use the word "cure," permanent CR will do just fine... Sybil Whitman, 52, NB, Canada Dx. Oct. 2003 (first MCL, then SLL, then LPL, then "unclassified"), CHOP x 8, R-CVP x 6, auto SCT April 2006, reduced intensity allo BMT (unrelated donor), Dec. 2006, working and living full time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 God bless you all for the strength you have had through this. And thanks to the generosity of the donor. Regards. Geraldine --- Sybil Whitman <hcouture@...> wrote: > Sue, it's always great to hear from an 8-year > transplant survivor! Like you, I felt that > transplant was well worth the risk if it offered me > the possibility of getting my life back. I had to go > through two chemo regimens and relapse twice before > my doctors finally agreed with me that transplant > was a sensible course of action. I've been extremely > lucky in that I had no complications during the > tandem transplant process and still have no GvHD to > speak of. Dry eyes, dry skin, dry hair, that's about > the extent of it. So of course I have no regrets and > am deeply grateful for the medical expertise that > saved my life, and of course, for the generosity of > my bone marrow donor, a gentleman whom I hope to > meet this summer. May our respective complete > remissions continue till we die in our sleep at a > ripe old age! Since the doctors won't let us use the > word " cure, " permanent CR will do just fine... > > Sybil Whitman, 52, NB, Canada > Dx. Oct. 2003 (first MCL, then SLL, then LPL, then > " unclassified " ), CHOP x 8, R-CVP x 6, auto SCT April > 2006, reduced intensity allo BMT (unrelated donor), > Dec. 2006, working and living full time. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hi Sybil I know this list is to keep people apprised of the latest developments but occasionally we all need a little cheer leading. This disease is no longer an automatic death sentence. When Chlorambucil, Fludara and CHOP failed me and my counts continued to rise I had no one to turn to to give me hope. I found Granny Barb's website and that gave me more information than my Dr or the Leukemia Foundation. I didn't find this list until long after my transplant. I'm not even sure it existed back then. The Dr's may not use the word CURE but I do. Accidemically I know it can come back, but as long as I have a good healthy case of GVHD I also have the graft working against the disease. If I have to choose a little GVHD or death, I'll put up with the GVHD. It's great to hear you had so few problems especially with an unrelated donor. That is HUGE. It sounds like you have had less problems than I have from my brothers cells. Stanford has a transplant patient reunion every year. My first year I was having some pretty nasty issues but I made it to the reunion anyway. Patient #1 was there, he's a truck driver, still working and he doesn't look like he has ever been sick. I figured if the first guy they transplanted, when they really didn't know what they were doing is still going strong, then I didn't have much to worry about. Ignorance is bliss ;-) Sue --- Sybil Whitman <hcouture@...> wrote: > Sue, it's always great to hear from an 8-year > transplant survivor! Like you, I felt that > transplant was well worth the risk if it offered me > the possibility of getting my life back. I had to go > through two chemo regimens and relapse twice before > my doctors finally agreed with me that transplant > was a sensible course of action. I've been extremely > lucky in that I had no complications during the > tandem transplant process and still have no GvHD to > speak of. Dry eyes, dry skin, dry hair, that's about > the extent of it. So of course I have no regrets and > am deeply grateful for the medical expertise that > saved my life, and of course, for the generosity of > my bone marrow donor, a gentleman whom I hope to > meet this summer. May our respective complete > remissions continue till we die in our sleep at a > ripe old age! Since the doctors won't let us use the > word " cure, " permanent CR will do just fine... > > Sybil Whitman, 52, NB, Canada > Dx. Oct. 2003 (first MCL, then SLL, then LPL, then > " unclassified " ), CHOP x 8, R-CVP x 6, auto SCT April > 2006, reduced intensity allo BMT (unrelated donor), > Dec. 2006, working and living full time. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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