Recently Sharon and I watched an ESPN documentary featuring the basketball great Bill Walton. The title was “The Luckiest Guy in the World.” After watching the series, I do not doubt Bill thought he was the luckiest guy in the world.
However, after my recent lifesaving, and curative, bone marrow transplant I would submit that I am the luckiest guy in the world. How could I not be? After living with Chronic Leukocytic Leukemia (CLL) / Small Cell Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL) for the last 13 (and possibly 17 years depending on when this condition was first noticed), and running out of options for treatment, an allogeneic (donor) bone marrow transplant was the last resort.
You see, I have been living on borrowed time since 2015 when I began a series of clinical trials, many of which were one of a kind where I was a guinea pig. I called these clinical trials of one. Each one prolonged my life and after the compassionate use trial that began this past October, I was in a bind.
To receive a transplant, I needed a donor and up to the plate stepped my brother Dave, who as it turned out was a perfect match. Could I have been any luckier? In that I was turning 70 years old this year and Dave was 61, the transplant center locations were limited due to our ages.
I had been treated at Fred Hutch Cancer Center since 2019 having undergone not one but two CAR T treatments where cutting-edge immunotherapy was used to treat my condition. The first attempt in 2019 did place me into remission although the 2022 treatment failed.
Fred Hutch was invested in me and they offered me the transplant opportunity. I could not have been in better hands. Although they warned us that the risks were much greater for me, as there are very few people who have been treated with multiple CAR T therapies and bone marrow transplant.
In early May, 2023, Sharon and I relocated to Seattle to enter the bone marrow transplant program at Fred Hutch. Sharon was my constant and minute-to-minute caregiver monitoring me for small changes in my condition that might trigger my providers to make changes to my care plan. I started dating her in 1971 and we married in 1976. Could I have been any luckier to have her by my side during my life’s journey?
Fast forward to today and we are back home in Sacramento and I am now living with a new normal. That is the Big “C” – which stands for CURE. My leukemia and lymphoma is nowhere to be found.
The transplant journey was difficult and I am home with limitations. I am on immunosuppression medications and need to be very careful regarding personal contacts and exposure to large gatherings, especially indoors. My red cell count is low so I am anemic. My white cell counts are suppressed. My kidney functions have been reduced. We are hopeful that all these will resolve in the coming months. I have daily fatigue requiring afternoon naps. On the other hand, I am taking daily walks and have started to use my Peloton bike again.
I have been kept alive by medical research that began decades ago. Much of it funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Since their inception they have invested $1.3 billion toward cures for blood cancers.
Sharon and I founded Dr Larry’s Team in 2012, the year I first ran the Boston Marathon, and since then our team has raised over $800,000 toward ongoing research. And that team has been of enormous emotional support for Sharon and I through all the treatments we have endured.
I understand there are many organizations asking for your donations. And at this moment I am requesting your financial help in pursuing treatments, and yes cures, for blood cancers by clicking here and making a contribution to our team today.
Yes, I am the luckiest guy in the world.
Sincerely,
Larry and Sharon
