Two Years Journey, the Rise from Leukemia and Aneurysm to the Opportunity of a Lifetime

On February 16, 2014, a fellow elder quietly prayed for me: Lord, give my brother a new bone marrow. The next day, a Hematologist diagnosed that I had a bone marrow disease. This unbelievable news with no obvious sign or symptom was true. I had an aggressive acute Leukemia. Graphically, the Lord assured me, three times that I would be healed and the disease would not return (Nahum 1, 9). Acting proactively, the Hematologist scheduled my admission into a Florida hospital. Subsequently, a skilled Oncologist induced Chemotherapy immediately. Since I was extremely weak, fall alert sign was posted on my chart. Unfortunately, I disobeyed it one night, fell, and bashed the back my head that sounded like a cracking Styrofoam box. Obviously, whatever that was, it cushioned this death blow. One week later, I experienced excruciating pain at the back of my neck. My left Carotid artery was severed. The result was a massive aneurism that God revealed in the nick of time, after two weeks of severe pains. I was scheduled for, and had successful surgery at an affiliate hospital and recovered in ICU, an unforgettable experience from which God rescued me. Having overcome, I sought for and received a second option, since I was not registered in a Bone Marrow Transplant program at the former hospital.

On November 4, 2014, I received stem cell transplant at this new facility. The donor was my brother, seventy-two years old; one of the oldest male stem cell donors in history. Like Jesus suspend on the cross six hours, drained of his blood to redeem me from this curse, my brother spent six hours on his back, to donate six million stem cells to give me a new immune system. I was grafted on day 16, after transplant, and was released to my new life of recovery.