Beth Wilson - NSH Leukemia/BMT patient
When I was 26, I was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the small intestine. I had surgery to remove the tumor and then six months of chemotherapy. At five years out, I was considered a cure. It was my worst fear that I would be diagnosed with cancer again.
By age 33, I had gotten married and moved from Alabama to the Atlanta area. Just past my 33rd birthday, I had a relatively routine visit with my gynecologist. I complained of frequent, painful periods, so my gynecologist decided to do some lab tests to see if I was anemic. What she found was much more serious.
Two days after testing, my doctor called me with the results of my lab work. My neutrophil count was critically low. She told me she had made an appointment for me with Dr. Solh, a hematologist. Then she called me back and said Dr. Solh wanted me to come to Northside to the emergency room immediately to have my labs redrawn.A short visit to the ER confirmed my worst fear: I had leukemia. Dr. Solh broke the news to me and my husband. To say we were devastated is an understatement. Despite being an Intensive Care nurse, I knew very little about leukemia. It was terrifying not only to have cancer again, but to have one that was so serious and one that I knew very little about.
Dr. Solh told us he would be admitting me to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit (BMTU) and that I would have a bone marrow biopsy the next day to determine the type. What I didn’t know was that I was being admitted to one of the best hospitals in the country for treatment.I had my bone marrow biopsy the next day. The biopsy confirmed that I had Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). A bone marrow transplant was the recommended route of treatment, but first they needed to get my leukemia into remission with chemo. My biopsy was on a Friday and I began chemo on Sunday.
Dr. Solh explained that the chemo was to get my leukemia into remission, but ultimately, I would need a bone marrow transplant. Being an only child, I didn’t have siblings as possible matches. Each parent was only a 50% match, no one else in my family matched and neither did any of my friends. Dr. Solh and his team put my information into a worldwide database to begin searching for an unrelated donor. Within a month, I had not one but two 100% matches!!
In December, an infection put me in Northside’s intensive care unit. I quickly became septic. It was a terrifying, week long near death experience. Once again, the incredible Northside staff saved my life. Once I was out of ICU, my transplant was scheduled for January 21, 2016, just over three months from the date of my diagnosis. My family and I all thought my journey would be over after transplant. Little did we know, the journey was just beginning.
I spent the next two years fighting Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD), an expected complication after transplant. GVHD happens when the donor cells begin attacking the new body systems because the donor cells see the body as foreign. Initially I had sores in my mouth, then intestinal GVHD, followed by skin GVHD and finally, musculoskeletal GVHD. I was hospitalized around 20 times with the intestinal GVHD and then battled the other forms as a patient at the BMTGA clinic.
Every step of my battle, from diagnosis to transplant to GVHD treatment, I was treated by Northside’s Blood and Marrow Transplant Group of Georgia. When I was hospitalized, I spent almost the entire time on the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit. The only exception being the week I spent on a ventilator in ICU. I have no doubt that the amazing care I received is the only reason I am here as a survivor today.
The sheer number of people involved in treating a leukemia patient is unbelievable. I had doctors, nurses, techs, medical assistants, transplant coordinators, physical therapists, occupational therapists and more that treated me both in and out of the hospital. Each one remembered my name, my story, and my diagnosis. The care that I received was not only personal, but exceptional.
Today, I am just over three years from transplant. I am working again as a nurse. I play softball in a recreational league. I’m currently in training, along with two other leukemia survivors, to be a volunteer and host for bone marrow drives. My life has returned to ‘normal’ as much as it possibly can, but it’s a different normal. Every day that I wake up, I am grateful. And I know I owe a large part of that gratitude to all the amazing staff at the Blood and Marrow Transplant Group of Georgia, Northside Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, and Northside ICU. I wouldn’t be here today if not for these incredible people.
Beth Wilson NSH Leukemia/BMT patient