Patient Stories
Sutter Health Cancer Services
Tom – BMT Transplant Team of Angels
An avid cyclist, Tom would sometimes ride more than 200 miles per week with his buddies. In tune with his health, he noticed he was tired more often and having trouble walking, breathing and was experiencing chest pains. He went into his doctor’s office to make an appointment and was immediately seen by a physician. After a failed stress test, an EKG that showed four of his heart arteries were 95% blocked and Tom was scheduled for immediate heart surgery with Michael Ingram, M.D.
During surgery Dr. Ingram noticed something else was wrong with Tom. They went through 10 units of blood and he had sky-high platelet counts. He was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a genetic disorder where the bone marrow doesn’t make enough healthy red blood cells.
With his new diagnosis, Tom was referred to a nationally recognized cancer center in Texas, only to be told he was too old for the treatment protocol – blood and marrow transplant (BMT). Then he was referred to a local BMT specialist, Michael Carroll, M.D., medical director of Sutter Cancer Center’s BMT Unit at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento.
Tom was told by Dr. Carroll that because he was physically active and healthy, he would be a good candidate for BMT. Unfortunately, the insurance provider he was contracted with would only cover the transplant at a university medical center in the Bay Area. While Tom worked on contracting with a new insurance provider, Dr. Carroll and the BMT Program Manager Linda Lambert worked diligently on finding a perfect match in the donor registry. To make sure things were moving along regardless of where the transplant would be performed, Tom consulted with the Bay Area university medical center. The doctor inquired about who his local hematologist was, and when Tom responded it was Dr. Carroll, he asked why Tom was there seeking treatment and not at Sutter with one of the best in the field.
Thankfully Tom was able to switch his insurance provider to one that would cover the treatment and transplant at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. Linda and his BMT Team found the perfect unrelated donor and everything fell into place. Tom started his transplant at Sutter’s BMT Unit on October 31, 2008. To show he still had a sense of humor, he put on vampire teeth for Dr. Carroll and Linda.
“I was amazed by the support the BMT Team had for me, my family and each other,” noted Tom. As a licensed clinical social worker, Tom has a keen sense of the kind of support people need to succeed and recover. “All the staff at Sutter had respect for each other; the tone they set is one of success.”
Tom was most impressed with Dr. Carroll’s commitment to his patients. At one point during his treatment Tom developed a host donor reaction. He went into the Sutter Infusion Center on a weekend for his regularly scheduled infusion visit. When Tom told the nursing staff about the sores in his mouth, they immediately took action and called Dr. Carroll who was at a conference in San Francisco. Dr. Carroll immediately drove from the Bay Area back to Sacramento to check on Tom.
“I had such an amazing support system that I wouldn’t have been able to have if my treatment was outside of Sacramento,” said Tom. “From my family, to my co-workers and friends, to the incredible team at Sutter.” Tom is constantly reminded of his “angels” at the Sutter Infusion Center by the wrist band he wears daily that he had them all sign.
“When people are in deep survival, some live and some die,” said Tom. “The ones who live usually have a support system and not only live for themselves, but for others”
Tom is now officially “donorized,” which means the donor’s marrow has fully taken over, and he is now in remission. He went back to work in January and soon after his friends setup an indoor stationary bike so he could start exercising again. Now he is back riding the bike trail with his buddies on the weekends.
Learn more about Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) at Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento.
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