After spending years confronting tyranny abroad, John Ralston Saul suddenly faced a quiet enemy within: a rare blood cancer diagnosis that threatened his life.
It started when John, a renowned Canadian novelist and former president of PEN International, an organization advocating for writers around the world who are persecuted, imprisoned and tortured, took a swim around his island on Georgian Bay.
A moment of unfamiliar exhaustion after the swim was the first clue his life was quietly being overtaken by myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
When MDS strikes a person's bone marrow, the disease begins producing defective blood cells that affect how healthy blood cells carry oxygen, fight infection and prevent blood clots.
Following his MDS diagnosis, John's body began failing, his energy was drained and none of the drugs were working.
"I got to understand more about what MDS was. It wasn't leukemia, but it could turn into leukemia," says John, a Companion of the Order of Canada and Member of the Order of Ontario.
Only one option remained for his survival. John needed a stem cell transplant from a donor, however finding a donor could be difficult.
It was a risky procedure so perilous that it required the expertise of the Hans Messner Allogenic Stem Cell Program at UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
"You know, there's two possibilities here, either I take these risks and it might go wrong or I don't take these risk and I die," says John.
"I'd rather take the risks."
'Patients have normal lives afterwards'
Once confirming his eligibility and finding a matching donor, John completed intense chemotherapy to prepare for the stem cell transplant.
Just hours after the procedure was completed, John picked up his pen and began writing again.
He felt reborn, ready for a new sense on life and thankful to his donor and the UHN team members who helped make it possible.
Dr. Jonas Mattsson, Director in the Hans Messner Allogenic Transplant Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, says: "There are so many different members of the team doing different things and I'm proud of the care that we deliver."
Team members such as Sara Barr, Clinical Coordinator in the program, knows just how much of an impact can be made.
"Patients have normal lives afterwards. It makes everything worth it," she says.
For a grateful John, the experience has allowed him to write another chapter in his life story.
"UHN is a place where everybody's focused on life, not death," he says. "I had wonderful conversations every day with the doctors, nurses and all the staff.
"They saved my life. Without them I'd be dead."
