@katgob @g4c @anitasharma. Good morning dear people! Ya’ll have me getting misty-eyed this morning while reading your replies. Of course, I cry at soap commercials some days but you three…you’ve all touched my heart in ways I could never have imagined years ago when I was first undergoing my medical odyssey. I can assure you, going through the thick of it, never once was there a thought of being a ‘tour guide’ or should I say, ‘survival guide’ for anyone else meandering through this battlefield with AML (insert your flavor of blood cancer) and a bone marrow transplant. So I am quite honored and immensely grateful to be in that position as a cancer survivor, thriver and over-comer! ☺️

Your lovely messages of support came at a very timely moment. Yesterday, coincidentally, was my 5th anniversary of being a mentor for Mayo Connect (though a member for 6 years). I owe this opportunity to Connect’s fearless leader, @colleenyoung who apparently saw something in me that might be of value to others. Back then, there were precious few SCT/BMT members and a small, but growing number of blood cancer members. Through Colleen’s outstanding leadership and guidance, we’ve continued to grow and flourish into an amazing online support family.

I’m humbled each day by the number of members who step up to answer questions, offer support, share their experiences and elicit empathy to complete strangers such as @alive who had a transplant almost a decade ago. We really do become family here! I harken back to my childhood when my mom and aunties ( or mom and neighbor ladies) would sit around the kitchen table drinking coffee and basically settling all the world’s problems. I realize now that it was basically a support group. And that’s what Connect feels like to me. That we’re all sitting around the kitchen table, from all corners of the planet, able to air our concerns, offer and receive support, share our stories, laugh, cry…well, you get the picture.

My goal is to continue to offer hope to people like @katgob, @g4c @anitasharm, @mary612 @jrwilli1 @dwolden and goodness, so many others who joined Connect asking questions about having a SCT/BMT. People needing reassurance that this procedure can work and then giving ‘permission’ to get on with your life instead of looking over your shoulder for the “Specter of what if”. ☺️. We were given a 2nd chance at life! We owe it to ourselves, our BMT teams, our families and our donor to get busy living our new life with positive zeal.