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"A lot of you have been asking about our good friend Lea. It&amp;#x27;s been a really long time since she&amp;#x27;s blogged about her life post bone marrow transplant and today she&amp;#x27;s here to let us know how it&amp;#x27;s been going&amp;amp;#8212;and to share some very cool news. Take it away, Lea! Kimo and me in the morning sunshine Hi everyone, it&amp;#x27;s Lea Morrison checking in from Northern California. Can you believe that it&amp;#x27;s almost been 18 months since my bone marrow transplant and I am still leukemia free? I am so grateful to have experienced so much life in those 18 months (birthdays, anniversaries, babies being born, time with family and friends and overall health and strength slowly returning). I also want to thank Erin since she has allowed me to share my journey and has offered both hope, laughter, and support since I was diagnosed over three and a half years ago! You touch so many lives. This has been a much longer journey of recovery than I could have ever imagined. There is no way I would have survived the physical and emotional bumps and celebrations without my husband Billy who lives with this disease (and me on high doses of steroids) day in and day out, my mom and brother who I talk to after each doctor&amp;amp;#8217;s appointment, lab appointment, and bump in the road, and my dad and sister/mother in law. My friends continue to stick by me and don&amp;amp;#8217;t seem to tire of all the specifics of post transplant life. With my amazing husband, Billy Overall I am doing great. I am hiking daily with my dog Kimo; I am stronger, and most importantly less scared that the leukemia will return. I am suffering from low-grade graft vs. host disease which has kept me on over 15 medications and I have been on high doses of prednisone since January. The prednisone at these high levels has some tough side effects which include: high blood pressure, bone loss, muscle atrophy, a puffiness of the entire body-especially face, and overall anxiety that makes getting more than a few hours of sleep pretty tough! The good thing is, the gvhd helps keep any stray leukemia cells away and it can take a year or 10 years to burn itself out. Only time will tell. I have needed to accept this as a chronic condition and luckily it is very well controlled with medication. A major highlight has been being in contact with my amazing unrelated donor Tammy. Tammy and I exchanged information at the one-year mark and I was able to send her a &amp;amp;#8220;thank you picture book&amp;amp;#8221; that my friend Annie created and many of my friends and family were able to thank her for giving me the gift of life in their own words. Her heroic efforts not only saved my life but many other people&amp;amp;#8217;s as well. I have become friends with Tammy and her husband over email and Facebook of all things. And my brother Brian actually got to meet her&amp;amp;#8212;read about that amazing experience here. I know someday soon Billy and I will be able to meet Tammy, Chris and Zoe in person. But until then, my eternal gratitude to her and her selfless act or random kindness continues each day. Billy, I love you with all my heart and I know when you married the triathlon, marathon, tanned, healthy and happy girl four years ago you never expected cancer to play such a major role in our lives and put our dreams on hold. You have done more than been a loyal husband and friend. You have made me smile, feel beautiful, and made me feel so safe and hopeful. Look out because many of those dreams are starting to come true! My entire family (mom and Bri) are cancer survivors&amp;amp;#8212;this disease has rolled through our lives and changed it forever. I would not wish cancer on any person I know and love but there are certain blessings of gratitude that certainly come from it. With my mom on my 36th birthday Thank you Erin and all of your readers for your continued support. If you care to follow my journey into the future and read about my past experiences check out my caringbridge site. With love, hope, and gratitude, Lea Morrison- cancer survivor Allo Transplant 12/12/07- leukemia free"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/life-with-cancer/2009/05/a-very-special-guest-blog-leas-1>