A hard fight against cancer
One patient's experience with a bone marrow transplant
by Cindy Whitcome
Dianne Mayberger was able to remain in denial — at least for a short time — because she didn't feel sick. A devoted jogger and horsewoman, she noticed she had lost a few pounds, nothing more.
Transplant patient Dianne Mayberger and her husband, Bob.
But when her primary care physician in upstate New York, and then an oncologist at the nearby Albany Medical Center, diagnosed her chronic myelogenous leukemia and began discussing treatment, Mayberger had to face a new reality. At 45, she was about to experience one of the most challenging treatments in cancer care today — a bone marrow transplant.
The word "transplant" evokes an image of an organ that is surgically removed from a donor, then implanted into a recipient. In reality, transplanting bone marrow is more like giving an infusion — a thick liquid administered through a small tube temporarily inserted in a large vein in the shoulder.
Although the infusion itself may be simple, the overall transplant process is quite complex and rigorous for patients and those providing their care. Some patients may wait months to find a suitable donor, then endure a hospital stay that can last four to six weeks or more during which they may be severely ill. For at least a year after the transplant, patients deal with the after-effects of the procedure. And there will always be extra care taken during physicals to look for signs of recurring cancer or other complications.
Treatment like this cannot help but be a life-altering experience. And the effects reach beyond the patient, in this case to Mayberger's husband, Bob, their two daughters, her sister, her co-workers at the law firm of which she is a founding partner, and other family members, friends, and colleagues.
"There were moments when I had doubts, but most of the time I knew I would get through this, even if it took a while."
— Dianne Mayberger
Mayberger admits to having been terrified at the prospect of a transplant, yet confident in spite of her fear. "I guess I always expected things to work out, to be OK," she reflects. "There were moments when I had doubts, but most of the time I knew I would get through this, even if it took a while to get there." Having spent countless hours by his wife's side during treatment, Bob Mayberger says, "It was much harder than I thought it was going to be. I wasn't prepared to feel so helpless."
Based on the kind of treatment needed and the program's reputation, the Maybergers chose the combined Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Hospital adult transplant program in early 1999. The program, the third largest in the country, grew out of the creation of Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare (DF/PCC), a collaboration in adult oncology among Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Approximately 300 transplants are done a year in the combined Dana-Farber/BWH unit, and another 70 for pediatric patients are now performed at Children's Hospital in conjunction with Dana-Farber. MGH also provides transplant services.
