In 2011, I was diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer and am a survivor after urostomy surgery. Flash forward to December 2025, when I was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), I was using the medical facilities I had used for the past 35 years, and found it to be behind the times, and my wife discovered the Mountain View Hospital Sarah Cannon Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program that just opened in June of 2025.
I am being treated by Dr. Carolyn Mulroney, who has been wonderful. She planned on doing intensive chemo along with radiation. The night I was admitted into the hospital to start treatment, I had a pain in my belly, and the next morning, I was told I needed to undergo colostomy surgery.
After the surgery, I spent the next month inpatient, followed by a second month of a lighter version of chemo and now outpatient chemo until my immune system is dead. Next week, I will have my fourth bone marrow biopsy to see if I am ready for the transplant. My wife has been in kidney failure for the past 2½ years and does peritoneal dialysis seven days a week at home in the motorhome we have lived in for the past nine years. We planned to travel when I retired, but our medical issues put a stop to travel for now. I am 65 years old and was forced to retire this past June; my wife is 78 years young and is my rock in life.
Ira
myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
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