Six weeks ago Monika Gnann (53) from Unterhaching received the shocking diagnosis: blood cancer.
She needs a stem cell donor to survive.
Unterhaching - There are only three cotton swabs that give hope.
Hope to find a stem cell donor for a blood cancer patient.
Monika Gnann (53) from Unterhaching is also waiting for this chance.
She discovered her cancer herself. A small, painful reddening in the hollow of the knee that was first diagnosed as phlebitis. Two days later, another doctor ordered a blood count that revealed the true disease: blood cancer.
Blood cancer diagnosis: "We fell into a deep hole"
A diagnosis that changes your life from one second to the next.
At Monika Gnann it was a phone call about six weeks ago, in the afternoon, in the middle of a customer conversation.
You have acute lymphatic leukemia, ALL for short, should come to the clinic immediately.
Nothing has been the same since then.
In order to survive, the 53-year-old needs a stem cell donation.
“A shock for us, we fell into a deep hole,” says husband Thomas Schweppe.
Since then, she has been given tablet chemotherapy and six weeks of induction therapy.
Fight against blood cancer in Unterhaching: The only thing left in the clinic is the telephone and the Internet
Monika Gnann is currently in the Augsburg University Hospital, her mouthpiece to the outside world is her husband. She only saw it twice briefly outdoors, “I brought the suitcase over to her”, and she was allowed to spend three days at home in between. Your weakened immune system only allows visits to a limited extent anyway, corona-related access restrictions in the clinic exacerbate the situation. That’s the phone and so is the internet. “We talk a lot on the phone, and have created a team group with acquaintances and friends. We have breakfast together, for example, or arrange to meet to talk, ”says Schweppe. That keeps his wife's psyche going, because giving up is no alternative for the couple.
Gnann also works a few hours a day in his own company, that's all there is to it, because the disease is draining, Gnann has already lost a lot of weight.
But his wife "does not curl up, that is important in the huge emotional chaos of fear, uncertainty, anger, sadness, despair and hope".
Blood cancer: high correlation between stem cells is important
However, it is just as important to find a stem cell donor as quickly as possible so that Monika Gnann can win the fight against blood cancer. Because it “not only” has blood cancer, but also a special form for which there is a relatively high relapse rate. Her sister Brigitte is 50 percent suitable as a donor. “We took a load off our hearts,” says Schweppe, because this makes sisterly stem cells the last option if a more suitable donor cannot be found. Better suited means minimizing the risk of the donated stem cells being rejected. This requires a high degree of correspondence between the tissue characteristics. Gnann should get the cells by August at the latest. Next week she comes home for three weeks to take a breath and relax.
Fight against leukemia: Register under #teammoni
Meanwhile, the typing campaign of the German Bone Marrow Donor File (DKMS) is running, 98 people willing to donate have already registered with #teammoni. Large publicity calls are currently not possible, everything runs over the Internet, the tests are carried out at home. If you want to help, you get a donor set sent home, take the cheek swab, which then provides information on whether the tissue characteristics match those of Monika or another patient who is also waiting for a stem cell donation. Every registration is the chance of a second life for blood cancer patients worldwide. Monika Gnann is also hoping for this opportunity. "We fear it will be an emotional rollercoaster ride for both of us every day," says her husband. Registration and typing is possible at https://www.dkms.de/moni.
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