Gregg Madsen, of Cranston, RI
Meet Gregg Madsen
Gregg Madsen, of Cranston, RI; was an active, healthy and busy 42-year old father of two when he noticed a small lump on his left shoulder. Concerned when it grew bigger, he consulted the family doctor, who scheduled him for an immediate biopsy. Gregg and his wife, Lisa, were shocked when they learned he had Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), a typically slow growing cancer found in older individuals.
After 6 rounds of chemotherapy that only resulted in 5 months of remission, it was decided Gregg would need a bone marrow transplant to survive. Gregg’s three siblings were not a match & the search for a donor using the Be The Match Registry began. On December 7, 2009 Gregg received his transplant at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston after a 42 year old male in Europe donated stem cells on Gregg’s behalf. The only thing this selfless donor knows about Gregg is his age, sex and disease.
Gregg and his family feel lucky that he found an unrelated donor that matched and was willing to continue on with the process. Of the 10,000 patients a year in need of an unrelated donor, only approximately 40% make it to transplant.
Gregg will stay in Boston until his immune system recovers and will remain on a strict diet with little contact with the “outside world” for about a year. Gregg & his wife have sponsored many marrow donor registration drives and continue to spread the word about the importance of joining the Be The Match Marrow Registry.
