Muriel Wells

Wells Walkers

I was in shock when my husband was diagnosed with MDS. My husband had done the Ride for Cancer 2 weeks before his diagnosis. We were both in a place of denial for the first month. Doctors seem to prepare you for the worst case scenario so we weren’t very optimistic and adjusted our expectations. Thrilled for 2 year survival, remarkable for 6 years. When they were presented us with the possibility do a SCT, we had to grapple with the idea that the procedure could kill you, or leave you with GVH disease. The hardest part was consenting to a life-altering procedure when my husband had no real symptoms..ever!

Our biggest challenge was/is in understanding how different each person’s journey with cancer treatment is. No two people even with the same cancer have the same results. My husband would say chronic GVHD has been his biggest challenge.
You really learn how to live one day at a time, it re-focuses your life. Suddenly the things you busy yourself with don't matter, it was A GIFT, learned to lean on family and friends and God.

It is not widely known that a STT donor only involves a swab. Often people think about the painful procedure for bone marrow transplant, whereas a STT it is a very simple process. When they had the opportunity to get into contact the with their matched donor in Germany, he said that when he was in elementary school he had a friend who had Leukemia. He always wanted to do it when he was grown up, but left it aside until he stumbled upon an opportunity later in his life to do the simple donor procedure. He ended up saving someone's life. So Canadians should support the blood cancer community through LTN because this event raises awareness for the vast majority of people who are affected by this disease, and hopefully can instigate wider recognition and awareness for the need to sign up as a donor, and potentially save someone's life. It also lets blood cancer patients and their families realize that they are not ALONE!