HE SAID YES…Again!

In my last conversation with Dr. H, she let me know that the first step in the DLI process was to get insurance approval. We are with a different provider than we were when I had my transplant, so we are praying that all goes well with that conversation.

The second step is to reconnect with my donor to see if he is still available and willing to donate a second time. MD Anderson cannot reach out until the insurance is secured. Dr. H asked me if I had ever been in communication with my donor, and I told her that I had. I tried to send the required paperwork after my first stem cell anniversary, but it somehow didn’t connect. But the second year it did. So just before my two-year “Re-Birthday,” I was able to send him a long letter and he called me! It was the coolest thing ever!!! Anyway, Dr. H said that while they couldn’t contact him until everything was in order, I could!

So yesterday, I sent Richard, my mailman hero, an email recapping all that has been going on over the last few years…coming out of remission shortly after my 2-year “re-birthday” anniversary, the CAR T-Cell trial in 2015, my knee replacement in 2016, and the continued increase in my CLL numbers and decrease in my donor cell count over the past year. I let him know that the MDA stem cell team had recommended the DLI over other treatment (or non-treatment) options. And I asked if he would be willing to consider donating again. The prep time for him would not be as difficult as the first time, from what I understand. I let him know how very much this means to me, my husband, my family…. But no matter his decision, we knew this was in God’s hands.

This morning, he wrote me back to say that he would gladly help!! ☺ My heart leapt with joy and I immediately began to cry. The DLI could not happen without him. I could not use another donor. That would mean starting completely over with an entirely new transplant, which does not hold particularly good odds. The DLI is simply “boosting” the one I already had, with the goal of kicking down the growing cancer cells and increasing the healthy donor cells. Ultimately, the goal would be for me to be 100% Richard!! ☺ Or at least as close as possible…DNA/cell wise.

So today, our praise to God and thankful hearts is that HE SAID YES!!! Now we just have to wait for insurance approval and the right timing.

That is another story.


“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:15