Dale Carlson

Planning a wedding is generally acknowledged as one of the most stressful things a person can do in life. But try being diagnosed with leukemia just two weeks before your special day. That's what happened to Dale Carlson.

Dale first realized something was wrong in July 2005. "I'd always been a healthy guy and a good athlete," he recalls. "But my body suddenly went nuts. I started having chest pains and trouble breathing. I developed problems with my tonsils and problems with my bowels. And eventually I ended up in the emergency room." A battery of tests later, Dale and his then-fiancée Laura were completely shocked when doctors informed Dale he had leukemia.

Leukemia is a malignant blood disorder that develops in bone marrow, blood and other tissues. Leukemia is not one disease, but has four main types and many subtypes. Mayo Clinic cancer specialists treat all types of leukemia.

Dale was initially diagnosed and treated with chemotherapy at a different medical facility. And the challenge of fighting cancer—despite Laura firmly at his side—raised a number of concerns about their future together, including the possibility of whether they'd be able to have children. "A good friend who is a doctor suggested we save some of my sperm before I underwent chemotherapy," Dale recalls.

The leukemia went into remission, and Dale and Laura rescheduled their wedding for March 2006. But just a few months later, Dale received disturbing news: Tests showed the cancer had recurred. A second course of chemotherapy followed, and a second remission. But Dale's doctors advised him that chemotherapy alone wasn't going to cure the disease.

"I thought they were kidding!" Dale recalls. "At the time, I was back to playing softball, hitting home runs. And suddenly I was being told that I needed a bone marrow transplant if I was going to beat this thing once and for all."

Dale was referred to Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz.—one of the only medical treatment facilities in the Phoenix area with a blood and bone marrow transplant (BMT) program.

Race for a match
At Mayo Clinic, experienced teams of physician specialists work with each patient to design an individualized care plan and implement the most effective treatment. Mayo's unique team approach to care means that patients can see multiple specialists and often receive testing and begin treatment in a matter of days, not months.

As with all transplants, blood and bone marrow transplants require the patient to be matched with an appropriate donor. Dale's healthcare team was headed by James Slack, M.D., Hematology/Oncology, who explains: "We choose a blood or bone marrow donor based on HLA typing, which is essentially an estimation of how immunologically identical people are. Just as identical twins are identical at the genetic level, testing a broad base of potential donors involves figuring out who is similar at an immunologic level." The transplant team generally starts by testing family members for compatibility. "Siblings have a one-in-four chance of being a match," says Dr. Slack.

However, Dale didn't have a compatible sibling, so Mayo's transplant team began combing the donor database maintained by the National Marrow Registry. Millions of people have given samples of their DNA—obtained through a simple oral swab—and are willing to be called to donate blood or bone marrow if a match is found. In December 2007, Dale was matched with a compatible donor—a 25-year-old woman—and received his much-needed transplant.

A new "little sister"—and a bigger family
Following the transplant, Dale and Laura often wondered about the woman who gave Dale the gift of life. Who was she? What motivated her to be so selfless?

The Carlsons got their answers in late 2008. As soon as various privacy laws allowed, Dale and Laura exchanged anonymous letters with Dale's donor, which were handled by the transplant coordinator. And no one remained anonymous for long, for both the Carlsons and the donor were anxious to meet each other. It was almost surreal when, in March 2009, Dale's donor Melanie arrived at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport, fresh off a flight from Germany. Their introduction (which Dale and Laura say felt more like a reunion) attracted major media attention—attention that the Carlsons hope will motivate more people to register with the National Marrow Registry.

"The idea of donating bone marrow sometimes scares people," Dale says, "and I think that's because they don't understand the process. Lots of people think that donating means having a huge needle plunged deeply and painfully into your hip bone, like you see in the movies. But really, the test to register just involves a simple oral cotton swab and filling out a little paperwork, and the process of donating is pretty much like giving blood."

Of course, donors and recipients don't always meet. But Dale and Laura are so happy they could. "Melanie's like Dale's little sister," Laura smiles. "And her simple action saved his life."

Despite the physical distance between Arizona and Germany, Melanie and the Carlsons plan to spend much more time together, in part because of two new reasons: Laura gave birth to twins—a boy and a girl—in June 2009.

"Melanie's like our family," Dale says. "Without her, I wouldn't be here today. And this connection—it's something we'll all share for the rest of my life."