Saying Goodbye

Last summer I connected with a woman who was diagnosed with AML and was getting ready for her stem cell transplant. Since I went through all of that over eight years ago and we lived in the same state, I reached out to her.

She had a lot of ups and downs before the transplant and was dealing with several serious infections. She finally received her transplant at the end of the summer, which was successful. We finally met in person when I had to go to Mayo for my routine appointment. She was staying at a rehab, since she was two months post transplant and was still on oxygen. We talked for a bit and I shared my transplant story with her. We continued staying in touch, though I could tell that she struggled with texting back and forth. I texted her yesterday to wish her a happy Thanksgiving and received a text back from her husband - she passed away that afternoon because of further complications with her lungs.

Saying “goodbye” after the passing is bittersweet. I remembered how much she hoped that she would recover one day. I also remembered the challenges I faced with my diagnosis and my transplant. In both of our cases, transplant was the only option for a cure, but that doesn’t mean that the recovery is going to be a smooth sailing. Good bye, my new friend!