I wanted to share the story I sent to Stempac...

catabryna

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Wed Jul-27-05 01:25 PM
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I wanted to share the story I sent to Stempac...

Our story is the typical story of dreams, hopes and aspirations. My name is Carole Allridge and my husband, Wayne, and I met in 1998, married in 1999, bought our first house in 2000, and then adopted our son from Ukraine in 2002. Things for us were exactly what a little girl would dream her future to be like, though I took a lot of lumps to achieve this. It was in November 2002, six short months after the adoption of our son, that we were given a diagnosis of cancer. Yes, this wonderful husband and terrific father was told he had Hodgkin’s Disease. We began researching and learned that Hodgkin’s Disease has a very high cure rate. We weren’t worried... he could beat this and everything would be alright. Nothing would stand in our way!

Wayne went through many months of chemotherapy and follow-up radiation treatments and continued to make it to work the entire time . When his treatment was completed, we took our first family vacation. Little did we know then that this would be our only family vacation. Upon our return, Wayne went for his follow-up PET and CT Scans only to discover that he still had the dreaded disease. But, it was alright. Hodgkin’s was a curable disease and we together were determined to beat it and we moved forward.

Wayne underwent salvage chemotherapy and arrangements were made for him to have an autologous stem cell transplant. He had to travel to and from the nearest facility, which was out of town, for testing and was hospitalized in October 2003 for his transplant. We had high hopes. The transplant was relatively smooth and he came home just in time to celebrate our son’s third birthday. It must be said at this time that our son has specials needs because he was born with a birth defect. We knew that when we adopted him. Of course, what we didn’t know was that Wayne would be suffering from cancer while our son endured four surgeries. But, it was alright, this cancer was beatable!

A couple of months after his transplant he was hospitalized on two separate occasions in November and December of 2003 for pulmonary effusion. His lungs had been damaged by the radiation and he had developed radiation pneumonitis. Two surgeries and an oxygen machine later, he was back home and back at work. Things were going well, all things considered.

Wayne had his follow up PET and CT Scans in January 2004. We were so excited to learn that the cancer was in remission and we started to put our lives back together. We had made it through all of that and it was behind us! Sadly, we knew it was back just three months later when in April, Wayne once again felt that lump in his neck. We tried to remain hopeful that it was just scar tissue and off Wayne went for another PET and CT Scan. Our hopes were dashed when we learned that he was no longer in remission. That’s alright... there were still treatment options. Time to move forward again.

The next step, an analogous “donor” transplant. The transplant center and the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry searched all the databases in the world (of which there are many), and there was no match to be found and, this included cord blood. So, off we go to the cancer research hospital to find some way to keep his disease in check while we waited for a suitable donor. He went through a week of tests and came home. We just knew a donor would come along! We didn’t know why this was happening to us, but we knew that God had a reason.

A couple of days after arriving home, Wayne thought he was getting a cold and went to see his oncologist. His breathing was labored, but that wasn’t unusual; he just had the flu. His oxygen saturation levels were so low that they rushed him via ambulance to the hospital which was only one block away and he was admitted to the ICU. The doctor called me at my office; have I mentioned I worked full-time through all of this? He said I need to get to the hospital because they were going to need to sedate Wayne and intubate him and they needed my signature. So, I left work and made my way to the hospital. Wayne had on an oxygen mask but seemed alright, but it was clear that he was not himself. He was highly agitated. They began running tests and he was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia and was in septic shock.

Well, Wayne never left ICU. For three weeks he was intubated and sedated. During this time, we all visited him day in and day out. His family came from 1,200 miles away to be at his side. The nurses were able to bring him out of sedation for small periods of time and he was able understand us and respond to yes or no questions by squeezing our hands. He turned 37 while he was hospitalized. After nearly three weeks, they were able to get him out of the septic stage, but they were unable to successfully wean him from the breathing machine. At about this time, we had to come to the realization that even if Wayne were to survive this, his quality of life would be horrible and we still had no cure for his cancer. His parents and I talked and I then went to his oncologist’s office. I knew that his oncologist would be honest with me.

When it all came down to it, everyone was in agreement that it might be best to let him go. I knew for certain that Wayne would never want to live that way because we had talked about it, obviously believing at the time that this decision would never need to be made. We spoke to the doctors and let them know our thoughts, but the decision was now Wayne’s. They brought him out of his sedation so he was lucid and our pastor and I went to his bedside. It was so hard for me to ask him if he wanted to go because I knew what the answer would be. He squeezed our pastor’s hand, but he wouldn’t squeeze mine. I had to forcefully tell him to squeeze my hand and he finally did. The decision was made. Wayne was removed him from the breathing machine and sedated. He was still breathing, and it was so obvious that he was ready because he had the most peaceful look on his face. By morning, his heart had stopped beating and he had passed peacefully away in his sleep. The date was November 8, 2004.

Wayne left behind a wife, his parents, his brother and other extended family. But the one person he cared for most in the world is the one person who still doesn’t fully understand why his daddy isn’t with us anymore and why he’s “way up high, in the sky” and that would be our four year old son Alexsei. As for myself, my life goes on as I have a child to raise, but I sure do miss my husband. Since I truly believe he watches over us and can hear me, I will say, “I love you, babe and we’ll all be together again one day!”

We already know that Hodgkin’s Disease is curable through the use of stem cells. It is my desire to never see another family go through what we did when there is a viable cure available, thus my plea that we expand stem-cell research. I will never know why God chose our family. It might just be that I’m supposed to share this story so that it will touch someone enough to make some tough choices designed to make a difference in those suffering from diseases we know we can cure and hope for additional treatment options for other diseases and ailments.