Donor-Survivor Reunion: Michael and Laura

Michael Meissner

Chemnitz, Germany
Stem Cell Donor: 2021

Donor: Michael’s Story (as told by Recipient Laura)

A lab tech rolled what looked like a small Igloo cooler on a cart into my hospital room. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the small cryo-frozen bags of stem cells in the cooler were somewhat underwhelming.  

I learned from the lab tech that stem cells for a transplant patient never leave human hands. They are hand-delivered, in my case, to the James Comprehensive Cancer Center at Ohio State University from Germany, via a courier.  

My donor was a man from Germany. I was intrigued. At the same time, I knew these cells were far from average. They were HOPE in a bag.

From that moment, I dreamed of knowing my donor. International donor registry rules require anonymity between both the patient and the donor for two years, after which a permission waiver can be filed to lift this requirement. I was allowed to write a letter of thanks to my donor, provided that no identifying information was included in my letter.  

Because my first stem cell transplant to treat my chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) had failed, I waited a year before sending my second donor a letter of gratitude. To my delight, my anonymous donor promptly responded. I received a letter routed through the transplant coordinators with black bars blocking identifying information.  

My donor and I continued to correspond, acknowledging the awkwardness of this system and the little news we could actually share. Most importantly, we both expressed a desire to know each other, and we signed the releases that would eventually allow our personal information to be shared.

In late 2023, exactly two years to the date of my transplant, I received my donor’s information. Through tears, I called to my husband: “His name is Michael. His name is Michael!” Immediately, I sent Michael a text and an email, and within 24 hours, our communication began in earnest.  

Michael lived in Chemnitz, Germany. He joined the bone marrow donor registry with a cheek swab ten years earlier when a local drive had been organized to find a donor for a child in his town. Although he was not a match then, a decade later, he was a match for me! At age 36, he agreed to donate stem cells for a patient in the United States. HOPE in a bag.

As we corresponded, we learned about each other and our families. Michael was in the age range of our children. It was as if I had a new relative, almost a new son. A blood twin.  

He had been to the U.S. once and had always thought about coming back to see New York City at Christmastime. We compared U.S. football and European soccer stories. And an idea began to form.

Late November 2024 would be Thanksgiving in America, the big daddy of college football rivalry games, Ohio State vs. Michigan, and the opening of the Christmas season in New York City. We invited Michael and his girlfriend, Tina, to visit us in Columbus, Ohio for our family’s Thanksgiving and the football game. They could then head to New York to see the Christmas lights before returning to Germany. Most importantly, we could meet in person!  

There were the ordinary hesitancies. After all, though we were now almost “related”, we were strangers from different countries! But after taking a breath, we all jumped into this plan.  

The result was a magnificent Thanksgiving full of gratitude, a blending of families, and memories made. Michael and Tina joined 17 others at our Thanksgiving table, where we enjoyed all the traditional foods. They had never had turkey!  

My husband and I hosted an Ohio State Buckeye pregame tailgate party and invited family, friends, and everyone who supported us during my transplant days, including my BMT transplant physician and her team. Ohio State lost the football game, but the tailgate might have been the winningest party ever.  

We visited the James Cancer Center and were treated to a tour of the cellular therapy lab, where Michael recognized the very same type of machine that had been used to collect his stem cells in Germany. We visited the BMT floor and shared our thanks with the nursing team who had cared for me.  

Despite the busy schedule, we had lots of time to talk and share stories and meals. Before we were ready, it was time for Michael and Tina to see the sights and the lights in NYC and return to Germany. We pledged to stay connected and find time to be together in the years ahead. Friends for life. Family for life.  

I am alive today because a 26-year-old young man swabbed his cheek and, at age 36, said yes to donating his stem cells to me. His name is Michael. It was a THANKSgiving to remember.