I am a thriver, a bone marrow transplant survivor. I can say this because of the support of my family, friends, doctors at MD Anderson and my bone marrow donor. The latter were total strangers to me until I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in January 2013.

At my Florida doctor’s recommendation, I traveled to MD Anderson with my oldest daughter, Shannon, and a dear friend. After a lot of testing, my doctors at MD...