Canswersite®

In March 2006, age 57, I contracted one of the most aggressive forms of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

We never obtained lasting remission from some 16 different chemo treatments while waiting for an unrelated donor stem cell transplant (MUD SCT), one of the few medical procedures that offer hope of a "cure" for MCL. The SCT was completed on August 22, 2007. On the 44th-day post-transplant results of a PET scan were negative (cancer was gone!) and we also received the DNA test results -- the SCT was successful.

Meanwhile, until Nov. 30, 2007, I was restricted to home confinement for the first 100 days post-transplant, a routine requirement. Recovery was steady but slow with some skin rash (GVH), but on Feb. 25, 2008, I returned to work on a part-time basis. We were expecting to be back at work on a full-time basis by the one-year anniversary on the transplant, Aug. 22, 2008. That is also when we were expecting to learn the identity of our SCT donor which was accomplished around that time.

The donor was an "unrelated" 20-something German named Torben C. of Göttingen, a university city in Lower Saxony. When we made a connection via email and social media, Torben said his interest in stem cell donations started when he read a magazine article on the topic.

Fast forward, (on August 22, 2017) we were 10 years post the allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT) and more than 11 years since diagnosis.  The only maintenance therapy now required involves immunoglobulin infusions (IVIGs) about every 2-3 months at City of Hope.  IVIGs help to boost the immune system and keep infections (inflammation) at bay.  Colds are frequent visitors, but the cancer malady no longer is! What a blessing!