I met Stacy Walker about a year ago or so through several different contacts. I believe it was her that reached out to me first to introduce herself and let me know that she, too, was battling MDS. She had been diagnosed a bit before me and I had a bunch of questions for her. It was nice to speak with someone that also shared the same disease as me and we could talk about the similarities, especially since we were the same age. As we emailed back and forth, I felt an instant connection. Not only was Stacy also mixed race, had MDS, was my age, but we also had the same doctor at City of Hope! Dr. O’Donnell is the MDS specialist and was treating both Stacy and I.
It was funny when we figured out that we shared the same doctor… it was fitting, really, since it felt like we were in this together. Over this past year, Stacy’s disease had begun to progress. First still in the MDS phase, she was starting to have a lot of fatigue and wasn’t feeling so well. Lots of trial drugs later, Stacy let me know that by late June her MDS had progressed into AML (acute myeloid leukemia). This was devastating. I hadn’t heard from her all summer and by this time it was late fall. I felt horrible that I hadn’t checked in earlier in the summer. My fear for her progression was rooted in what had happened with Michelle and Nick this summer. I was simply praying that Stacy would respond well to the chemo and that the cord blood transplant would work. The last email we exchanged was in late October, about a month ago. Things seemed to be going well with the latest chemo treatment and I told her that i would check in after her biopsy in a couple of weeks.
Those weeks passed and I went to Dr. O’Donnell for my check up. I asked how Stacy was doing. She said she was struggling, but that she was hoping that the last round of chemo did the trick. i guess looking back, i could see it in her face that it was not going well. i finished my appointment with dr. o’donnell and went on with life.
this past weekend, my family and i had a meeting at A3M and i was talking about Stacy. it was then that they let me know that Stacy had passed away a couple of weeks ago. it was literally like the air went out of the room. i didn’t know how to respond. i tried my hardest to fight away the tears and keep the meeting going. finally, when the meeting was over and i was by myself, i couldn’t hold them back any more. it was hard enough learning about Michelle and Nick this summer, but now Stacy was gone. She was my buddy, my compadre fighting this weird disease. i didn’t even get a chance to say good bye. to be honest, part of the tears came from the deep seeded fear that this could happen to me too. more than anything, though, i am saddened by the loss of my friend.
even though we never met face to face, we were friends and i know that she is now at peace, not feeling sick or tired or discouraged any more. my love and prayers go out to her family. I’m going to continue fighting and raising awareness for donors in honor of Stacy and Michelle and Nick. I know Stacy would want me to keep doing all that i was doing- running, drives, speeches, etc.
For you my friend, I will do my best to get as many people as I know registered. I’m going to miss emailing with you. It was always a highlight to see your email in my inbox. I’ll keep on truckin, just for you.
xo,
krissy
ps- as an update on me: my platelets are a bit lower and therefore, i’ll be going in for a bone marrow biopsy on the 7th. i’m feeling fine though… i’ll send another update after the biopsy. Continue to spread the word… we will get everyone registered.
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