Groveland Twp.- Pam Nichols had two birthdays this year.
The traditional one was Sept. 2, when she turned 62. The other was Aug. 18, when doctors gave Nichols, who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia last spring, a stem cell transplant and the chance to celebrate future birthdays.
‘The doctor said everyday is the gift of life when you have cancer and on Aug. 17, he told me, ‘Tomorrow is the day to definitely get your gift,? recalled Nichols last week, as her voice broke and tears fell. ‘It’s been an ordeal, but I’m remaining confident things will work out.?
‘I’m grateful you’re still here,? said her husband, Nick Nichols, also known as Farmer Nick and co-owner with Pam of Oakhaven Farm.
Doctors and nurses at Henry Ford Hospital gave Pam a birthday card following her transplant and on her Sept. 2 birthday, she received another gift? the news that new bone marrow cells were reproducing in her body.
Just a few weeks prior, massive doses of chemotherapy killed all the bone marrow in Pam’s body in preparation for the transplant.
Pam was diagnosed in March with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), after she’d suffered from months of fatigue, followed by a rapid weight loss. The only hope for a cure was a stem cell transplant to replace diseased bone marrow.
Her sister, Janice Jones, would give that birthday present as a perfect donor match. The gift was made all the more incredible by the fact that Pam’s family was split up when she was 7-years-old and she has only seen her youngest sister three times since then.
‘Now, we are keeping in touch,? Pam said. ‘She told me, ‘I want you to get well because there are a lot of things I want to do with you.??
It will be six months to a year before Pam learns whether the transplant was a success, with no cancerous cells or rejection, but so far, so good.
Now, she and Nick, who have been married for 28 years and have five children and seven grandchildren, face the daunting task of paying numerous medical co-pays and bills not covered by their insurance.
The Nichols are grateful for their family and friends and Pam hopes to be able to visit with supporters today, weather and health permitting. She also looks forward to cooking again, and showing her labrador retrievers, but most of all, being with her family.
‘I want to get well, and watch my grandkids get married and go to college, and just spend time with my husband and kids,? she said.