I am Missing Photographs of Marc, Peg, Robin and Jill
Email them to gregvan@yahoo.com
and I'll add them to this page.
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| Christmas 1961 Left to right: Martin Vanderlaan, Cousin Patty, Gregory Vanderlaan, Cousin Gary Lea - We Had Family Parties in the Willow Glen district of San Jose. Mom's Family had a Farm there... growing Prunes... Grandma Made Prunes Stuffed With Divinity Fudge (100% Sugar) - Uncle Forrest Made Apricot Liquor by Taking a Mason Jar Filled with pitted Fresh apricots, vodka and rock candy... set it on the shelf for a year to Mellow... They used to give the children a single apricot to eat and That's My First Drink of Alcohol... FUN! |
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| Nicole Vanessa |
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Gregory, Vanessa, Nicole, Justin
My Father Invented a Technique for Watering Hanging Plants. Take a Five Gallon Drywall bucket, Fill it Halfway with Water and Miracle Gro Fertilizer. Take the Hanging Pant off it's hook and Dunk the entire plant and flower pot underwater for five minutes. Then replace the Hanging Plant on The Hook...
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| Victoria, Gregory |
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| Vanessa, Patti |
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| Nicole |
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| Patti, Bonita, Vanessa |
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| Broady, Nicole, Reese, Cadence |
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| Vanessa |
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| Martin |
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| Daves Ave Elementary School 1965 Mrs Fuller's Class |
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| Collage for Dad's Coffee Cup Birthday Gift |
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| Dad and I on the Ave of the Giants, Humboldt County |
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| Halloween Mask at The Office Party |
I remember that We used to play "Keep Away" with a volleyball in the Los Gatos High School Pool. Swim Team vs Football Team. We, The Swim Team Always Won because all I Had to do was Hold a Football Player's Head under the water and they Panicked and Released the Volleyball. WIMPS!
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| Dad at the Marguerite Tree, Big Basin |
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| Gregory at the Marguerite Tree, Big Basin |
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| ME at the Office in Eureka |
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| ME in the Woods near College Cove, Humboldt County |
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| ME at the Beach, North Jetty Humboldt Bay |
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| Dad at the Arcata Airport |
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| Mom's Fabric Artwork Broady, Uncle, Aunt Nicole, Cousin, Vanessa Yes, They are Visible by Looking THRU the Fabric |
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I remember going to my Uncle Marc's House for Thanksgiving Dinner in Sacramento. We always took a "Forced March" after dinner to Land Park. Marc and I would Debate current affairs and He would always "Win" the Debate. He worked as a Lawyer and could argue any position on any issue... Therefore, I would WIN every Time because I Learned and Stretched my mind... Thanks! Uncle Marc. I believe that he simply took the opposite side in every argument just to RAISE ME RIGHT. He felt a duty to Teach Children.
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My AutoBiography: Growing Up in Los Gatos, California in the 1960s by Gregory Vanderlaan - and Living in Chico, Washington DC and Eureka.
Born March 19th, 1954, We lived on Hedding Street Near the San Jose Airport until We moved to Los Gatos in 1960. I lived there until graduation from Los Gatos High School in 1972... an Ideal Childhood... READ MORE:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=gvan42&form=HDRSC2&first=1&cw=1584&ch=787
My Father Called Himself a "Gentleman Farmer" as He Grew Food, not for sale but for gifts and for us to eat... Especially the Apricots which we dried at the Neighbor's Farm in Saratoga, CA (off Quito Road) - We Could use the Sulfur Dryer for Free as long as we Helped CUT their 'Cots. In Drying, every 'Cot was cut in two, the seed discarded and then the two halves were set on a large flat wooden tray. Everyone Worked... and Therefore ALL THE WORK JUST GOT DONE. That Was the Way of the World Back Then.
(see comments by my Friends from Los Gatos High)
Paul Mcjunkin Interesting
Deborah Hacker Gregory Laan, I enjoy reading your memories. Cutting 'cots was a summer job for me, at the Elam Ranch. I don't remember the pay, but we had a punch card and it was punched for each lug we finished.
Jan Farwell Deborah Hacker bought my school clothes wit what I earned in the apricot orchard
Wes Tietzen When I started in 1944 at age six we were paid twenty-five cents a lug. at a cutting shed on Shannon Road. I worked the morning followed by a nap after lunch.. Rejuvenated, I would often be given boxes of "slabs" (overripe fruit) to place on trays, force open and remove the pits. I believe slabs were meant for the baking trade. I was very proud of my efforts. I was helping to win the war!
Lauralee Bramel Larson Deborah Hacker I cut costs as a young kid too. Must have been about 1970. I think the pay was 35 cents per lug.
Gregory Laan I worked FOR ONE DAY as a Professional Farm Laborer Cutting 'Cots on Blossom Hill Road... Horrible Pay and we were Downwind from the Sulfur Smoker... I quit... I Complained about the Bad Pay and they said "Cut Faster, You get paid More." I was Offended...
Brian Glenn Every kid worked in the orchards when was a kid it was farm to farm 1960s
Jan Farwell I did that too
Judy Finger Cox`s dehydrator in Saratoga
Tella Gram My brother and I cut cots one summer. Rode our bikes out to Almaden road somewhere. Our lunch in a bag and milk in a thermos. It was the mid 50’s. I think he worked harder than me. But I remember we got paid by the flat. I also remember the smell of the sulphur shed at the end of tray. Every time they opened the door, whoosh! we were covered in the aroma as well. Good experience.
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As a child, she accompanied her parents to the West Shore Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church and she credited that upbringing with expanding her horizons. She was a lifelong Unitarian Universalist and through the years was a member of the Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, the Walnut Creek UU Church, the Newton, MA UU Church and the First UU Society of San Francisco.
On a ski trip organized by the Berkeley Fellowship she met her future husband. The family resided at various times in Danville, CA, Newton, MA, and San Francisco. She was a loving stepmother to Nicole Vanderlaan. After the birth of her daughter, Vanessa, she became a full time homemaker and was active in a number of organizations, including volunteering at Vanessa's schools and the UU Society of SF. Always generous in her efforts to extend a hand to others, among those whose lives she touched are Hava Maloku, a student from Kosova who lived with the family for several years, and Darien Garritt for whom Patti was a caregiver during the first years of his life. Recently Patti was an active member of The Gratitude Center community.
Pat's passions included a love of nature, theater, sewing and crafts, and the fine arts, especially the textile arts. She took delight in children of all ages, and worked to promote their welfare and education. She was an ardent supporter of empowerment for women and social justice.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Bonita Post. She is survived by her father, Willis Post, brother, Tony Post, husband Martin, daughter Vanessa, step daughter Nicole (Brodie Smith) and granddaughters Cadence M. Smith and Reese A. Smith. A memorial service at the First UU Society of San Francisco is planned. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the American Association of University Women (AAUW.org).
Margaret Vanderlaan died January 12, 2018 in Carmichael, California. She was born January 12,1926 in Lassen County, California on a ranch near the town of Adin to O.P. Smelcer & Imogene Blair. She was the third of four children, and the last surviving sibling. She was raised in Adin, and graduated from Adin High School. She enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated with a B.A. degree in International Relations. While at Berkeley, she attended a summer school program at the University of Mexico where she met her future husband, Marc Vanderlaan, who was also attending U.C. Berkeley. She married Marc in Berkeley in February 1948. They moved to Sacramento in 1950, where Marc started his career as a Deputy Attorney General. Margaret and Marc raised their children in Sacramento, and enjoyed family trips, particularly to flyfishing streams in Northern California. Margaret was President of the League of Women Voters in the early 1960's. She was also involved with fundraising for KVIE, and worked with the Peace Action Committee during the Vietnam War. She returned to school when her children were teenagers, and obtained a Masters in Social Work from Sacramento State College. She then worked for Yolo Co. as a psychiatric social worker for many years. After retiring, Margaret and Marc enjoyed traveling and took many trips abroad to destinations in Africa, Australia, South America, the Galapagos, and the South Pacific. Margaret was preceded in death by her husband, Marc, in 2007, and she lovingly took care of him during his illness. Margaret developed Alzheimer's Disease in her mid-eighties, she fought valiantly against its progression, but ultimately succumbed on her 92nd birthday after suffering a stroke. She leaves behind two daughters, Robin and Jill; two grandsons, Joshua (Catherine) and Eric; and two great-grandsons, Tyler and Jacob, all of whom loved her and will miss her greatly.
Uncle Marc's Obituary: Was born 3/23/22 in Albany, NY and died on 2/14/07 in Sacramento, CA. Marcus was a dedicated husband and father. He came to California as a child, and grew up to be a resolute fisherman and enjoyer of nature. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley, and served in Europe during WWII. He...
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/marcus-vanderlaan-obituary?pid=86577479
"I had the good fortune to know and work with Marcus as a law clerk and an attorney after having been represented by his firm as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. He was the most..." - John Metz
"Marcus Vanderlaan! I had the pleasure of being a legal secretary at a lawfirm where he practiced, and he would announce one's entry into the office by trumpeting one's first and last names! What a..." - Elizabeth Desler
Can you become a lawyer without having attended law school if you pass the bar?
My mom, Joan Maredyth, who recently passed away, did it in California. She worked as a legal secretary to Marcus Vanderlaan, a WWII veteran, who took her under his wing and mentored her as she “read for the law.” She passed the bar exam on the first try and never stepped foot in a law school. They wrote an article about her in our local paper (the Sacramento Bee). I do not know if California still has this program though. I’m very proud of my mom, and I miss her.
and there are Many Many Reports of Law Cases He tried on the Internet... Here is One...
MARCUS VANDERLAAN DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER EDMUND G BROWN.
https://books.google.com/books?id=bzk1mBjid-AC&pg=RA8-PA41&lpg=RA8-PA41&dq=%22marcus+vanderlaan%22&source=bl&ots=utHgTK5NvC&sig=ACfU3U1Mb3OQrpsJspTa9EkMhkCNb33HTw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1y6vVnr3nAhWGJTQIHT2jBo0Q6AEwB3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22marcus%20vanderlaan%22&f=false
Justin Vanderlaan passed quietly at age 93. Born in Kinderhook, NY, he was the first son of Reverend Eldred C. Vanderlaan and Mabel Alice Duff. When he was 5 the family moved to Berkeley, CA where Eldred became minister of the Unitarian Church of Berkeley. As a teenager Justin contracted pneumonia and moved to the Hibbs Health Farm (Top-o'-the-Hill) in Los Gatos and thus began his life-long love of the area. He attended University Avenue School and Los Gatos High School for 2 years, but the hard times of the depression forced the family to move several times as his father sought the more steady salary of a teacher than of a minister. Van graduated from Sequoia High School in '37 and UC Berkeley in the spring of '41. He played clarinet in the Cal band and marched in the Rose Parade when Cal went to the Rose Bowl. He was a lifelong member of the Cal Alumni Association and his children and grandchildren often enjoyed "a week at the Lair."
The July '41 he met Marguerite Malek of San Jose, and they eloped in September to Carson City, NV. He was 21 and she 19 and they had known each other for only three months but the impending World War added urgency. The marriage lasted 60 years until Marguerite's death in 2002. Because of his history of tuberculosis he was initially excused from military service and they both worked in the Kaiser Ship Yards, Richmond, where he learned civil engineering. In April 1944 he was drafted and trained in the infantry at Camp Roberts. Marguerite and Van celebrated VJ day together in San Francisco before he shipped out to the Philippines. Sargent Vanderlaan became Chief Clerk of the Apprehension Division of the War Crimes Trials, Manila, helping to bring to trial those Japanese officers that had participated in the Bataan March.
After being discharged in 1946 he worked as a surveyor laying out San Francisco Airport, apartments at Midtown Terrace, and the Stonestown Mall. In '54 he and Marguerite moved to San Jose and then in '60 built their dream house in Los Gatos. During this time Van worked for San Jose Abstract and Title Insurance Co. in the booming Santa Clara Valley real estate market. He joined San Jose Rotary, and has been a member ever since. In 2009 he was recognized for 46 years of perfect attendance at weekly Rotary lunches, often regaling members with stories of "make up" luncheons in such places as Tonga and Edinburgh as he and Marguerite traveled in retirement. In recent years he attended Los Gatos Rotary, serving by selecting students for Rotary's camp RYLA and annually as a course monitor for "The Great Race."
In 1966 he became a Realtor joining Bill Reinhart in San Jose and adding a Saratoga office of JD Vanderlaan Realty a few years later. He was president of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Board of Realtors in 1979 and Realtor of the Year in 1984 before his retirement at the age of 75.
He always believed in the importance of giving back to the community. He served on the board of the Los Gatos Parks Department in the 1970s, and arranged for the fighter aircraft to be installed in Oak Meadow Park. He was a founding member of the Santa Clara Valley chapters of the World Affairs Council and the ACLU. He served on the LGUSD Bond Oversight Committee, and was recognized for community service in 2009 with a Los Gatos Seniors of Distinction Award. He was a donor to the Sempervirens Fund to preserve redwood lands in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and a regular bridge player at the Los Gatos Community Center.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Marguerite and his younger brother, Marcus Vanderlaan. Van is survived by two sons, Martin Vanderlaan (Patricia Post) of San Francisco, and Gregory Vanderlaan (Victoria Davis) of Eureka. He is also survived by his two granddaughters, Vanessa Vanderlaan of San Francisco and Nicole Vanderlaan Smith (Brodie Smith) of Aliso Viejo, and two great granddaughters, Cadence M. Smith and Reese A. Smith also of Aliso Viejo.
Donations may be made in his memory to the Friends of the Los Gatos Library (friendsoflglibrary.org) and to the Sempervirens Fund (www.sempervirens.org). A memorial service celebrating his life is being planned. Memories of Van may be shared at Memories.of.Van@gmail.com.
Martin Vanderlaan's Cancer Survivor Story:
My Stem Cell Transplant for WM Amyloidosis
I had indolent WM for twenty years, but amyloid deposits in my lung hospitalized me eighteen months ago. I discuss my experiences with Rituxan, ibrutinib, and an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT).
I am now 68 years old. 23 years ago, during a routine physical exam, my physician noted an unexpectedly high total serum protein level. The elevated protein was composed primarily of IgM, and lead to a diagnosis of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Unknown Significance (MGUS), which can progress to Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia (WM). Over the next twenty years, my lab results never became alarming, and I was otherwise symptom-free and in good health. I changed jobs, moved cross-country, and my wife and I went about our lives raising our daughters. While “watchful waiting” was the correct strategy during those two decades, I was mindful of the potential for disease progression, and kept waiting for “the other shoe to drop.”
On New Year’s Day of 2014 my wife of 28 years died of cardiac amyloidosis. She had not been “feeling right” for several years, and was eventually referred to a cardiologist. But light chain amyloidosis is sufficiently rare that the correct diagnosis was made only in November, and by that time she was referred directly for a heart transplant. She died six weeks later, while still being worked up for the transplant. The best description I read of cardiac amyloidosis was that her heart was “starched”, sufficiently inflexible to no longer pump blood effectively even when beating. Because of this intimate acquaintance with amyloidosis and its devastating effects, and knowing that a subset of WM patients develop amyloidosis, I requested that my hematologist make monitoring my serum free light chain part of my routine blood tests, in addition to serum IgM.
I am a PhD analytical biochemist whose professional career has been in the biopharmaceutical industry, the last twenty years at Genentech. I tend to obsess on data, and have found that habit both professionally satisfying, and an emotional escape as my wife’s and my own illnesses unfolded. In July of 2015, the data from my lab results became progressively more concerning. Yet when my hematologist asked how I was feeling, I responded, “Great. I just got back from a week of hiking and bicycling at Lake Tahoe (elevation 6,300ft).” “OK”, he said, “see you in January.”
Just before Christmas I was again at Lake Tahoe, vacationing with my daughters and their families. One morning I awoke at about 4 AM, unable to get comfortable in any position in bed. My heart was racing; I had mild chest pains and some difficulty breathing. My daughters were adamant that I go to a local urgent care center. Once there, I was informed I was not having a heart attack, but should proceed directly to the local hospital Emergency Room. The urgent care doctor said, quite calmly, he would forward my chest X-ray to them, and “they will be expecting you.” In lightly falling snow my younger daughter and I drove off to the hospital fifteen miles away.
In the ER I was informed I had a lung infection with bleeding, and a 10x14 cm (4 x 5.5 inch) mass in my right lung. The most immediately life threatening concerns were my infection (treated with antibiotics) and my blood loss (replaced with five units of blood). But being informed that one has a large, presumably malignant, mass in the lung was traumatic. As I had suspected, the biopsy showed the mass was mostly amyloid deposit, WM lymphocytes, and plasma cells. An abdominal fat biopsy also showed amyloid deposits, which indicated that these deposits were likely occurring throughout my body. The good news was that I showed no loss of cardiac or kidney function – so no amyloid damage to those organs, yet. My amyloidosis had been identified much earlier than my wife’s.
I was given six cycles of IV Rituxan at three-week intervals, combined with weekly Velcade, cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone. Ironically, Rituxan was the first drug I had worked on as a biochemist at Genentech. Some thoughts about getting a drug I had helped to develop are covered in a blog I wrote for the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (see aapsblog.aaps.org/?s=Vanderlaan&search=Go(link is external))
All of this treatment occurred while both daughters had returned to their lives, well away from San Francisco, where I live and was being treated. Without local family to help during this five-month ordeal, I was able to marshal the assistance of friends using the website(link is external). I recommend this web tool to anyone facing a similar challenge where you would like to rely on friends to provide rides to infusions, an occasional home-cooked meal, conversation, or emotional support.
My last Rituxan infusion was in April 2016. By June my hemoglobin level and lung capacity both had returned to near normal, and gradually I built up the endurance to walk about five miles a day in my hilly neighborhood. A bone marrow biopsy showed about 10% abnormal lymphocytes and plasma cells, and my serum IgM and free light chain remained high. The decision was made to start me on oral ibrutinib, which, in the published literature, shows promise for WM patients with the common WM genetic mutation that I have.
During the oral ibrutinib treatment I suffered no side effects. I felt well enough to take a five-week vacation in Europe with my younger daughter, as a belated college graduation present to her. This trip was a treasured parent-adult child bonding for the two of us, especially since she had lived through her mother’s death and my hospitalization two years later, both related to amyloidosis. We also scheduled our trip to be in Amsterdam to coincide with the International Workshop on Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia (IWWM-9), which I attended.
By January 2017, unfortunately, it became obvious that the ibrutinib had not had its desired effect of lowering my IgM and light chain. I suffered another lung infection, and a total body PET-CT scan showed that the mass in my lung was approximately the same size. In addition, a similar mass – assumed to be an amyloid deposit – was noted in the soft tissue of my lower abdomen near my pancreas and kidneys. The danger that this might progress to amyloid deposits in my organs was very concerning, and my physicians and I agreed that it was time to take the next step and prepare me for an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT).
I will go into detail on the ASCT process for the benefit of readers who might be considering this treatment. Over three days in early March I received abdominal injections of Neupogen (also called G-CSF or filgrastim) followed by a single injection of another drug called plerixafor to cause the stem cells to proliferate to the point that they spill out into the blood stream. I shaved my beard, and had my hair cut “military short” in anticipation of my hair falling out. I mentioned to the nurse managing my case that the ASCT was now becoming very real, after all the preliminary testing. Her wise reply was that I should focus on the destination, not the journey. While the next few weeks would be rough, I would arrive at “a better place” and that should be my guiding thought in enduring the procedure.
The next step in the treatment was to harvest my stem cells from my blood stream. This began with having a tube or catheter inserted into the jugular vein in my neck, leaving a rather odd protrusion of tubes for external connections. The next day I spent about eight hours hooked up by these tubes to a device that separated stem cells out from my whole blood then returned the remaining components of my blood to my body. The total amount of blood so processed was about three times my total blood volume. At the end of the day the resulting bag of stem cells was sent off to the lab to get a stem cell count and to be frozen in liquid nitrogen.
The hospital staff informed me that the minimum number of stem cells they needed for the stem cell transplant was two million stem cells/kg body weight, but that an ideal number would be five million or more. My count for the first day of harvest was three million/kg, so another round of harvesting was planned for the next day – another eight hours on the machine. To my surprise and disappointment, that second day yielded only another 950,000 stem cells/kg. With this drop-off in collection on the second day, it was decided not to collect on additional days. In the background of my mind was the fear, “what if they don’t have enough?” After all, it was these cells that I would depend on for recovery.
I was admitted to the University of California, San Francisco’s transplant ward. My first evening there I was given melphalan by IV over about thirty minutes. This is the drug used to kill your bone marrow cells to prepare for the transplant. It also kills other fast-growing cells such as those in your intestines, skin, and hair follicles. I was advised to suck on chipped ice starting fifteen minutes before and continuing through fifteen minutes after the infusion. The cold causes the tiny blood vessels in your mouth to contract, minimizing the melphalan dose to the mouth tissues and thus reducing the risk of mouth sores developing later while you are immune-suppressed. Since the total time for the chipped ice and melphalan is about an hour, I advise patients going through this procedure to have planned something else to focus on for this period. In my case, my daughter and I pulled out our phones and reviewed pictures from our Europe trip. It was a wonderful distraction, a reminder of better times, and kept my mind off of what was dripping into my vein.
The next day was unquestionably the worst day of the entire procedure. My nausea was such that even moving from the hospital bed to an adjacent chair was an ordeal. This day allowed the melphalan to clear from my system.
A day later, it was time to infuse my stem cells. A machine with the bags of cells was brought to my bedside. Individual bags were gently thawed and then given to me by IV. As each bag was being given, the next bag was being thawed so no bag remained thawed for more than a few minutes before being dripped into my vein. Several hours were taken for this process on the first day, with the process being repeated on the next day until all of the stem cells that had been collected were returned to my body. The idea was that they would then find their way to my bone marrow and “set up shop” for healthy blood cell proliferation and immune system fortification. The day you begin re-infusing your stem cells is considered “day-zero” in the ASCT process, i.e., the “birthday” for your new immune system. This “birthday” was celebrated with a surprise birthday cupcake and candle from the nurses.
Over the next few days I responded to the anti-nausea medications and was able to eat a bit. Daily blood cell counts were posted on the whiteboard visible at the foot of my hospital bed. Gradually the remaining pre-transplant white and red blood cells, platelets, and neutrophils diminished to near zero. “Come on stem cells, start replacing these dying cells,” I thought. My hair fell out. My energy level fell. By about the fifth day post-transplant, the neutrophil count – the cells most important for my immune system to begin protecting me again – increased slightly. “OK, one day does not a trend make, but it is a basis for hope,” I thought. Over the next few days all the cell counts increased steadily, slowly, each day rising higher than the day before. “Maybe, just maybe, this whole process is working for me the way it has been described, and my stem cells are rescuing me.” This is not to say that there were not complications. As is not unusual, I needed a couple of units of blood to offset my anemia, and there were frightening episodes of fevers that luckily – and thanks to all of the hospital’s precautions – did not blossom into serious infections. And I was exhausted.
I spent 21 days in the UCSF transplant ward, and then a month at home under “house arrest”. My gradual recovery in both places was greatly facilitated by the loving care given to me by my younger daughter and my girlfriend. Both took time off from their jobs to be with me for the seven weeks. Having two caregivers allowed them to balance being with me and their own lives. Anyone planning a stem cell transplant should be sure to plan for adequate assistance.
I learned that recovery from ASCT seldom is linear, and found the backward steps to be frustrating and depressing. Each patient has unique experiences during ASCT recovery and mine might not be reflective of what others experience. In looking for the source of the possible infections during the fever spikes, total abdominal CT scans were performed. While no infection site was ever positively identified, a doubling in size of the previously noted abdominal mass was incidentally noted. This led to some frightening questions: How could something be growing when I just had high-dose melphalan? Was the hypothesis that this mass was an amyloid deposit valid? The last thing I wanted was another kind of cancer. The biopsy results came back, indicating amyloid deposit, inflammatory cells, and a few WM cells. Somehow the timing of my ASCT had coincided with a large deposition of amyloid proteins in the soft tissues of my abdomen.
Lying in bed gives one lots of time to speculate. Supposing the abdominal amyloid deposition had preceded the one in my lung eighteen months ago? My vague bloated feeling and dull pain in my back around my kidneys might well have been misdiagnosed by me as something intestinal – probably chalked up to something I ate. Or I might have thought it to be mere back-muscle strain. My odyssey of treatments might not have begun until something more serious had happened.
The three-month post-transplant period involved more extensive testing. A bone marrow biopsy showed that the abnormal cells were not at zero but were down almost 100-fold from my pre-transplant value. And the abdominal CT showed that the abdominal mass had shrunk an amazing 80%. The scientist in me is still analyzing and puzzling over the large personal data set I have collected for serum IGM, free light chain, and other test data under conditions of various therapies. Expected correlations of values are often not there, and I speculate about multiple sources of these values. I wonder whether there are separate clones producing these serum proteins, each clone with its own dynamics. Or maybe the amyloid deposits are non-cellular reservoirs that can provide a source for serum proteins. Or maybe differences in clearance rates obscures differences in production. I would be more than happy to discuss any of this in detail with those of you who share this interest and curiosity. In spite of these questions, I am relieved that the current findings are largely positive.
My overall energy level is back nearly to the level of last fall and my hair is growing back. I am walking 4 - 5 miles a day. It is time to go back to the mountains of Tahoe, and immerse myself in the forests. This winter had quite heavy snows, and the streams are flush with snow-melt. Spring has come and gone, the wildflowers are in full bloom, and all the trees show vigorous green new growth. So it is for my stem cells. They, too, are recovering from their winter of liquid nitrogen, and are showing vibrant growth, celebrating a new spring of proliferation and differentiation. Life is good.
Martin Vanderlaan SFMist@sbcglobal.net(link sends e-mail)
San Francisco, California
August 2017
https://www.iwmf.com/get-support/patient-stories/martin-vanderlaan-my-stem-cell-transplant-wm-amyloidosis
Patents by Inventor Martin Vanderlaan
Martin Vanderlaan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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