Via Telecopier/Airmail
To: My friends and colleagues
From: Dolly Tai-lan Lo
Date: January 16, 1995
Re: Bone Marrow Transplant
Happy New Year!
I have spent the past five months in Palo Alto, receiving various chemotherap
and undergoing some minor surgeries at Stanford - all in preparation for a bone marrow transplant. A decision was made in the fall to proceed with this procedure which offers a possibility of complete cure from leukemia. It has since been a bit of a roller coaster ride, with alternating good news and not quite so pleasant news related to my meeting the preconditions for an autologous (self as donor) bone marrow transplant. In fact, the first step in the transplant process was taken in mid-November, but various complications prevented me from proceeding on the original schedule. I am happy to report that all preconditions have now been met and I am being admitted today to the Stanford University Hospital for the transplant.
It is expected that I will remain in the hospital for 6 to 8 weeks, after which I will be discharged and continue receiving treatment at Stanford as an outpatient for another 8 to 12 weeks. The recovery period for a bone marrow transplant is longer than that for a heart, lung or liver transplant because the entire immune system is affected and the doctors have suggested that a six month period of recovery is required. Thus, I expect to return to Taiwan (and of course, the office) in July.
Although the treatment process has taken longer than I initially anticipated, fortunately it meant that I was able to spend the holidays outside the hospital with my family. We even managed to squeeze in a 2-day visit to Disneyland. I am grateful for this time as I likely will not see my children again until late March or April.
Many of you have sent me words of encouragement after my last update - for which I thank you. Some have sent information from Taiwan or elsewhere about cancer counselling and support groups. These past months have been very valuable in providing me an opportunity to meet with cancer counsellors, support groups and felldow patients - the challenge will be "translating" what I have learned into the Chinese cultural and familial context.
(中文翻譯僅供參考)
透過傳真/航空郵件
致：我的朋友和同事
寄件者：陸台蘭
日期：1995年1月16日
回覆：骨髓移植
新年快樂！
過去五個月我在帕洛阿爾托度過，接受各種化療
並在史丹佛大學接受了一些小手術——所有這些都是為了骨髓移植做準備。秋季決定繼續進行這項手術，這提供了徹底治癒白血病的可能性。從那時起，這就像坐過山車一樣，好消息和不太令人愉快的消息交替出現，與我滿足自體（自身作為捐贈者）骨髓移植的先決條件有關。事實上，移植過程的第一步在11月中旬就已邁出，但各種併發症使我無法按原計劃進行。我很高興地報告，所有先決條件現已滿足，我今天將被送往史丹佛大學醫院接受移植手術。
預計我將在醫院住院 6 至 8 週，之後我將出院並繼續在史丹佛大學門診接受治療 8 至 12 週。骨髓移植的恢復期比心臟、肺或肝臟移植的恢復期長，因為整個免疫系統都會受到影響，醫師建議需要六個月的恢復期。因此，我預計七月返回台灣（當然還有辦公室）。
雖然治療過程比我最初預期的要長，但幸運的是，這意味著我可以在醫院外與家人一起度過假期。我們甚至還擠出了兩天的時間去迪士尼樂園參觀。 我很感激這一次，因為我可能要到三月底或四月才能再見到我的孩子們。
在我上次更新後，你們中的許多人給我發了鼓勵的話 - 我對此表示感謝。有些人從台灣或其他地方發送了有關癌症諮詢和支持團體的訊息。過去的幾個月非常寶貴，為我提供了與癌症諮商師、支持小組和其他患者會面的機會——挑戰是將我所學到的知識「轉化」到中國文化和家庭背景中。
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