Tammy Muth, an otherwise healthy 51-year old, was diagnosed with AML mid-March when she was admitted to the hospital with double pneumonia and two forms of influenza. After two frustrating months of going to the doctor trying to figure out why she kept getting sicker and sicker, Tammy finally got her answer. Most people would expect to find out their diagnosis through a physical examination or a test result but nope that is not how Tammy found out what was going on. It took her fiancé dragging her butt out of bed in the middle of the night, a trip to the ER, the swift and intelligent work of many doctors, six pints of blood (yes roughly 75% of the total volume of blood in a human body), intubation, four days of unconsciousness and Tammy’s relentless will to live to first save her life and second diagnose her with AML. After further testing, doctors told Tammy that she had a high-risk form of AML and needed a bone marrow transplant. A bone marrow transplant could significantly extend her life potentially 20+ years.
Fast forward to September and imagine receiving the letter from doctors saying they found a donor for you. Think about all the thoughts that would be going through your mind. Tammy felt like she had a new lease on life and was extremely enthusiastic about the grueling process ahead of her. She and her fiancé gladly packed up four large suitcases and caught a plane to Seattle, where Tammy’s transplant will take place. Once in Seattle, Tammy received her medical work-up itinerary and had a battery of tests to go through before the transplant. Friday before Labor Day weekend, Tammy was headed into the clinic for some routine blood transfusions and received a call from her doctor asking to talk to her immediately because he had some important things to discuss. The doctor came into the room and dropped the bomb: “Tammy, I am sorry but your donor is no longer medically safe and we suggest you go back to Omaha and wait to see if we can find another donor.”
Tammy is now back in Omaha waiting for the donor search to continue. She just finished her last round of chemotherapy and will almost certainly relapse soon without additional treatment. The donor search process is expensive (~$10K/potential donor) and very minimally covered by insurance. Tammy's search coordinator informed us that if we had more money we could speed up the process. We are reaching out to you because we are running out of time and resources and need help.
