18 plus months (over a year and a half)
Hi! Just wanted to check in as I was filling out a health form and the question asked have you had a bone marrow transplant, blood transfusion, or any blood products” in the past 12 months?” I answered “no’.
Do you have cancer? I answered “no” (not today).
Another day of being a very lucky grateful girl surrounded by amazing family, friends and adored dog.
I don’t head up to the Hutch until Sept. 1st for the GVHD study and won’t change many medications or taper much until then but I still go to UCSF almost weekly. I am happily living life even with some restrictions and limitations and figuring it out as we go.
The next few days you can become a donor for free- here is how. As you know, Tammy (my donor) was a complete stranger and signed up over 15 years ago and has given me a second chance at life.
http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now_Special/Marrowthon09/join_now_mt09.html
Secondly, as many of you know several people have generously competed/completed events, marathons, ironmans, fun runs, walks, etc. in my honor in the fight against cancer. In those continued efforts and in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, TeamWedge is doing a century ride in San Jose on July 12th. Fee free to check out the website at: http://sanjose09.livestrong.org/teamwedge for more information. The Livestrong organization supports ALL cancers- not just blood cancers. Personally, I think it would be an amazing Father’s Day gift to give in honor, in memory, or in support of for your dad or father figure. But maybe my sense of reality is a tad tainted nowadaysJ!
There are so many other survivors and friends who have helped and continue to support me on this journey. They offer hope, perspective, and advice. One individual is David Cox, who I met before we even decided to head to transplant. He had his transplant weeks before me at the Hutch for the same stage of CML. Our families got to know each other up in Seattle for over 4 months and we have continued to stay friends over email. He too developed chronic GVHD and it has hit his lungs. He is facing a potential lung transplant because of this. Our stories are so similar and it really shows how intense graft vs. host disease can be/get if not controlled. He is a fighter, a veteran, and a wonderful father of three and husband. I know his story inspires me:
http://cml.davidrobertcox.com/
With love, hope, faith, and a whole bunch of gratitude,
Lea
