I had to laugh about the doctor who left his crystal ball at home. Next time you should ask if he brought it with him to work. I agree that it’s hard to predict how long GVHD flare would last, but the doctor should have observed enough patients with that specific GVHD to give a better answer.

I would have liked for a doctor to pray for me when I was going through my transplant. This just shows that we are all different, and what would be meaningful for me wouldn’t be for you.

I also had a lot of different doctors since I was diagnosed with AML in 2016. Moving to different states twice since then didn’t help either. For me, it’s important to have a doctor with many years of experience with blood cancers and transplants, someone who listens, answers my questions, explains well what I am experiencing and proposes a course of action.

Most of my oncologists have been top notch. I did have a young oncologist three years ago who ordered an unnecessary biopsy that resulted in me needing a thoracic surgery to treat the biopsy infection that could have killed me. He didn’t listen to me when I told him that the growth wasn’t new and was previously evaluated by another specialist.

Anyway, this unfortunate experience led me to connect with Mayo Clinic and now I have an excellent doctor.