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Husband with AML facing a stem cell transplant

Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) & CAR-T Cell Therapy | Last Active: Sep 7 11:43pm | Replies (117)
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@kt2013

Hi, mary612. Thank you for sharing your story. I am a 10 year survivor of allogeneic transplant for AML in 2013. I was 59 at the time.
Everything you and your husband are feeling is completely normal. I went from great hope to great fear, day by day. I learned to give myself grace for however I was feeling that day. If the day was bad, at the end I locked it in a closet and shut the door. Every day is a new start and that helped me manage the anxiety and uncertainty.
I am a woman of faith and believed that every day of my life was already written. I repeated that to myself A LOT! I have a controlling personality and this was an important lesson for me. You have exactly the right idea, stay in the day!
I also am a caregiver, so asking for help as a single person was not my strength. So the lesson here was when I needed help, others experienced the same good feelings I had as a caregiver (duh!)
One last thought (before this becomes a novel), humor helps. I was not so keen on being bald, but someone told me I had a very round head! I am not sure is that is a good thing or not, but now I know.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for reaching out.

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Replies to "Hi, mary612. Thank you for sharing your story. I am a 10 year survivor of allogeneic..."
katgob | @katgob | Mar 16 9:22pm

I lost my very long hair with breast cancer in 2021. Now I will lose it again in 2 weeks, but this time I will cut a should length curly wig and no one will be the wiser. It barely got to my shoulders in 2 years, so one more time I walk the road from bald, to fizz, to my hopeful curls and dozens of hats I know own and wear.

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mary612 | @mary612 | Mar 18 9:36am

Hello! Thank you for reaching out in response to my post. I am so happy to hear you are a 10 year survivor! Such a blessing! Your experience and life are inspiring to those of us on this end.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and reminders to have humor, grace and faith. These are things I value and try to invoke at every turn. We are only human and this road can be tough, so the grace to let the bad days go and wake to another day of hope is so important to remember!

I love the idea that all our days are already written because it is a meaningful reminder to let go and trust the process of life. It can be so painful but it’s support like this that helps me keep my head up.

Wishing you a good week.

Thanks again!

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