Mantle Cell Lymphoma and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Joe and Gayle's Story

Joe Garbarski    

Mantle Cell Lymphoma                                        
St. Charles, Illinois
Transplant in 2018 

Gayle Garbarski    

Acute Myeloid Leukemia                                   
St. Charles, Illinois
Transplant in 2023
 

In February of 2018, I was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, and it really came out of left field. I didn't feel or look sick, but the blood tests revealed something different. At 61, being relatively healthy, I went through my chemotherapy treatments with a few hospital stays but kept up my work routine and stayed active. When it was time to harvest my stems cells for the transplant, that's when things got a little dicey. I was unable to produce the proper amount of stem cells to have the transplant. A second go around took place and my stem cell transplant was scheduled for October. I was treated by Dr. Jayesh Mehta of Northwestern, not only a great clinician, but he has a great personality.

After the transplant I continued immunotherapy for the next few years, and since I was aware that Mantle Cell Lymphoma has a tendency to return, I made the decision to retire a few years prior to my original plan and made a point to travel, golf (a lot) and enjoy life as best as I could. I also put together a golf outing and donated the proceeds to the Leukemia Research Foundation (LRF) (luekemiarf.org). I was asked to join the LRF board of directors in September of 2022 and the next month my wife of 45 years, Gayle, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

Another surprise (and not a good one!) but I knew who to turn to and once again Dr. Mehta took on the task of Gayle's blood cancer diagnosis. She did not go into remission on the first go around and needed to go through the entire process again and was declared to be in remission in the Spring of 2023. Although there were ZERO matches for Gayle in the United States, there were 4 identified matches in Europe and thanks to one young man from Germany, a match was made. Gayle's bone marrow transplant and subsequent recovery was much more difficult than mine, but she showed strength and courage to persevere.

My treatment experience helped me as a caregiver, and we are very fortunate to both be alive today. The improvements in blood cancer treatments had a lot to do with our outcome, but I recognize that the acts of a few people made all the difference. We continue to remain in good health and count our blessings. In October of 2027 we will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and it's our hope that more donations are made for research in the treatments of all blood cancers.