Chapter 12 - ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA
Leo explained more carefully than our parents did.
Hannah had acute myeloid leukemia.
She had responded to initial chemotherapy.
Then relapsed.
Her doctors had gotten the disease under enough control that an allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplant was now being considered her best chance for longer-term remission.
They had tested immediate relatives.
They had searched donor registries.
No ideal fully matched donor had been identified within the time window her team wanted.
My mother interrupted:
“None of us matches properly.”
Leo corrected her.
“It’s more complicated than that.”
He looked at me.
“The transplant team said additional biological relatives might be worth typing.”
There it was.
Not:
We missed you.
Not:
We have spent twenty years regretting the church.
Blood cells.
HLA markers.
May you like
A sick child.
They had finally found a reason strong enough to look for me.
