I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2017. What a day. I was very sick and didn’t know it. I was on my way to Florida that morning and had pain in my side. I didn’t know the reason for it. I stopped at a small hospital in Indiana at 5:30 in the morning and was diagnosed at that point with leukemia. They transferred me to a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, and I was further diagnosed with AML. At that point, they told me it was extremely severe, and I would need immediate treatment. They transferred me to another hospital in Louisville, and I was given the opportunity to work with a doctor by the name of Don Stevens. I was also diagnosed with a marker in my blood called inversion 16. They said it was my friend now because it could effectively turn my cancer off but with treatments it could become a demon.
Through eight days of 24-hour chemo, they got my AML under control. After several months of treatments and maintenance, my cancer had gone into remission.
Almost two years to the day on New Year’s Eve, I was having a physical done at my local doctor, and he found that my cancer had returned. I went back into the hospital. My doctor, being Dr. Stevens, said he thought it was best that I have a bone marrow transplant. They could not find a donor, so they tested my children. I have a son and a daughter, and they found that my son would be the best Band-Aid because of his being only a 50% match until we found someone.
The transplant was successful. They said my son’s cells were so immature that they were very optimistic that they were going to be good for me. After having my bone marrow transplant at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center, after three to four months, my blood type changed to my son's. And after several more months, my DNA also changed to his; at that point, I was diagnosed as 100% my son. Here we are, over nine years later from the day that I started this journey, and I am cancer-free. We started raising money for Blood Cancer United (formerly LLS) because the research and the treatment that I was given were found through them, and I am so grateful that we wanted to give back in some way. So we started raising money, and I had told my wife, Donna, that we should just give a sizable donation to Blood Cancer United instead of raising funds. But one night I was lying in bed, and I looked at her and said we need to do this. If someone hadn’t raised money before this, I probably wouldn’t be here. So at that point, we started fundraising, and at last count, we had raised over $600,000. We are so proud to be involved because there have been numerous people helped and given back their lives because of our efforts.
Life is a gift, doctors are a blessing, love is earned, and God is just one prayer away. Never give up, never give in, and pray that the world would be free of cancer.
Doug
acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
