I was 27 years old, finishing my degree in psychology and working in a high school with teenagers. I was helping them to talk about their emotions, drugs and alcohol and sexuality. etc. My role was to be a connection between the children and their parents and teachers, to help everyone understand better how to help teenagers. It was a rewarding time. 

 

In the afternoons, I was working as a volunteer with Fundacíon Jovenes contra el Cáncer [roughly translated to Youths Fighting Cancer]. At the same time, I was working full time toward my degree in psychology. 

  

  

Yes, and also, I was engaged, so I had a full social life, and I was living with my parents. My coworkers saw I was tired, but we thought I was just working too much.  

  

  

In 2017, in December, my brother got married. The party began in the afternoon and went into the night, but I fell asleep really early. I missed most of the party, and it was like, “Why I am I so tired?” 

  

Then, in February, I had an infection, really bad, and they said maybe I was anemic, or it was a kidney infection. After that, I had a couple of months of back pain, but they told me it was anxiety from working too hard. I know now that it was bone marrow related back pain, but then, I didn’t. 

  

Finally, I went to a laboratory and asked for a blood test. I got the test on a weekend. Monday, they called me many times. I was busy at work, and didn’t answer, so they called my parents because the test result was very bad.  

My mother is a nurse. My father took the test results to a doctor at the clinic where my mother worked. The doctor said, “You have to find her now and bring her here, it’s an emergency.”  

  

That day I met my hematologist, Andres Orquera. We talked for two hours, and at the end he told me I needed to have a bone marrow biopsy immediately. The biopsy results showed “bone marrow failure.” 

  

  

In Ecuador, if you work, you can receive free treatment in public hospitals with national health insurance. The clinic where my mother worked, and where I first met my hematologist, was private so it was too expensive. My hematologist also worked in one of the national healthcare hospitals and he was able to get me admitted. Fifteen days later, I was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia. 

  

 I was given antithymocyte globulin (ATG) in hopes it would restart my bone marrow. After the treatment with ATG failed twice, my hematologist asked my brother and sister to be tested as potential bone marrow donors. Those results took four months to come back: my brother was a 9 of 10 match. But in Ecuador, they don’t do bone marrow transplants unless they have a donor who is a 10 out of 10 match. So, to use my brother as my donor, I would have to go out of the country. 

  

  

First, I had to fight with the bureaucracy of the state of Ecuador. I had to wait one and a half years before I could leave., When they finally said yes, I felt for the first time that I was not going to die.  

  

In July 2021, they chose to send me to Navarra, Spain for my care. (Ecuador and Spain have a reciprocal care agreement.) When I arrived, I was in really bad condition. 

  

It took one month to prepare for transplant. My brother came and donated his bone marrow. He is a fashion designer, a lover of sports, and a businessman who left all that to go to Spain and be my donor. We had a special bond before, and now it’s even stronger! I feel connected with him, I feel some of his characteristics in my personality. I try hard to let him know how grateful I am to him every moment I can. 

  

My mother was also with me, in Spain, the whole time. She left her job as a nurse to be there, and she retired. She slept in my hospital room with me and supported me every day. It wasn’t easy for her, she was sixty at the time, but thankfully, on Day 14, I engrafted. I didn't have problems. I was really lucky. 

  

In total, we stayed in Spain for six months; we returned to Ecuador in February in 2022, I was cured but I had lost 10 kilos (over 20 pounds), and I had to get my strength back.  

  

  

My work is my greatest passion. I am a psychologist, and I have a postgraduate degree in psycho-oncology. I now work privately with cancer patients and palliative care patients. 

  

During my treatment I kept telling myself that I had to survive because there were people who needed me. It helped me to heal. When I felt less strong, I remembered each of my patients. I was inspired by remembering their faces, their stories, their words, their advice and what they indirectly gave me without knowing it, as if preparing me for this disease. They are the reason why I get up and move forward each day. I survived to serve others. 

  

  

I have a mild case of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), maybe a little in my lungs and on my skin. It can be difficult to get a diagnosis and good treatment in Ecuador. They don’t know about GVHD.  

  

Surviving is more than just returning from transplant; it takes ongoing care. I am very lucky; my dermatologist is amazing. Even though there are a lot of political problems, and sometimes the hospital doesn’t have the medicine I need, I still get good care. I feel really good to this day.   

  

  

I can’t imagine a better medical team for me. I love with all my heart my hematologist, Andres Orquera, and my transplant doctor, Manuel Granja. I know that no matter what happens to me, they have my back. They always believed in me, even when there was nothing more to do, they believed in me. Their faith in me gave me the strength to keep fighting for my life. I will always be thankful to them. 

  

  

I have a lot of losses through being sick. I lost my fiancé. I understand, it was too much for him. I lost friends, jobs, and opportunities. But I also won a lot of things: my life is more relaxed. I go day by day. When I feel good, I do more. When I feel bad, I rest. My body works right now, and I listen to my body. I feel peaceful, and I try to do the things that feel right.  

  

  

I think after transplant, you start to enjoy life like a little kid. You see things as if for the first time. For example, food! I suffered on the neutropenic diet for three years. Now I am passionate about eating! I like to go out with my friends and try something new. Everything raw! I love salads, I love fruit. It’s so simple. 

  

Animals are also my passion, both my cat and my brothers' pets. I really like writing. I also like traveling. Although I can't do it as much as before, I do it every year on my re-birthday.  

  

I can understand my patients more now. It’s a different type of connection. I come to them with more empathy and sincerity. They give me hope, even in palliative care — they give me the desire to keep doing those things they will not have the time to do. I had a patient who loves salsa. I love to dance too, so I dance salsa for me, but also for him. I dance for us both. 

The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT), formerly known as the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, is a professional society of more than 2,200 healthcare professionals and scientists from over 45 countries who are dedicated to improving the application and success of blood and marrow transplantation and related cellular therapies. ASTCT strives to be the leading organization promoting research, education, and clinical practice to deliver the best, comprehensive patient care.