Tom's Leukemia Journey

Story Written By: Tom Hayes

Two and a half years after diagnosis I relapsed. After relapsing, I was told I would repeatedly relapse the rest of my life each time I achieved remission. But a stem-cell transplant reduces the chance of relapse to less than 10%. (It is also essentially known as a bone-marrow transplant). I decided to start the search for a donor.

Before receiving a transplant, I had to be given more chemotherapy to return to a state of remission (less than 5% cancer cells in the blood). You typically won’t be a candidate for transplant, otherwise. Within a few months of relapsing, I was told that the international registry for stem-cell/bone-marrow donors had determined that there were 40 people in the world who were a ‘strong match’ for my blood profile and a successful transplant requires this. One donor had an additional two markers that made his ‘stem cells’ the best match.

Soon after, I received a transplant. The donor stem cells became my red and white blood cells, as well as platelets. I was told that my cells were transported in a small cooler by courier from Poland to Chicago. At that point, the cells were given to a US courier, and they were delivered to Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington - USA. Amazing process! All I knew about my donor was that he was Polish and 27. This anonymity and privacy would last for two years.

Transplant is a grueling process, and as my health and strength returned, I became more and more curious about my donor. When the privacy period ended, we were allowed to freely communicate with each other which we did by email. I finally learned my donor’s name was Pawel Kijewski and he lived in Lodz, Poland near Warsaw. Early on we decided to “Zoom” so that we could see and hear each other.

When we first met on “Zoom” it was magical and transformative! I felt deeply emotional to talk to the man who had saved my life. It was also significant that his wife, Justyna, and my wife, Michelle joined and the four of us quickly developed a close kinship. After a few more “Zoom” sessions, it became clear that Michelle and I would travel to Poland when I was no longer immune-compromised. I was drawn to meet this man and others connected to him.

Since an early age, Pawel wanted to do something of true value for someone else. He repeatedly watched his father donate blood and at 20 he signed up to be a bone marrow (stem-cell) donor. Seven years later, he got the call to donate because of the 27 million donors in the international registry, he was my ‘best match’. The call allowed him to fulfill his dream.

Pawel knew of my deep desire to help patients/families with a leukemia diagnosis. So before we came to Poland, I was not surprised to find out that he had arranged to put on a bone marrow registration drive at his workplace - AMCOR. But it was not without considerable effort. The packaging company he works for only shuts down on 2 holidays a year. Yet when he persisted with them, I was allowed to participate in the donor drive as the plant closed for an hour and all 200 employees on shift gathered to hear from the Polish registry (DKMS), Pawel, and myself (through the translation of the Managing Director). 47 employees registered to be donors!!! That is a lot of potential life savings.

I went to Poland to thank Pawel; I also was able to thank Pawel’s and Justyna’s parents for raising kind and generous children that made Pawel’s donation a reality.

After this life changing event, DKMS in America has contacted Pawel and I to follow this story. It is not common for donors and recipients to connect with each other. Leukemia and blood cancer are devasting diseases. And there are many people who are motivated, like Pawel was, to give of themselves so that those with the disease have a chance of making a full recovery!