Personal Details
My name is Donald Pang and I am 30 years of age (at the time of the Bone Marrow Transplant). I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Australia with my family when I was about 5 years old and have lived here ever since. By day, I work as a consulting coastal engineer. Out of work hours, I enjoy kickboxing, going to the gym and playing beach volleyball.

Medical Condition
During April and early May 2002, I suffered from recurring flu like symtoms, and occasional chest infections. After several trips to the GP, I requested a blood test. The test showed elevated numbers of blast (immature) cells in the blood indicating a possible haematological malignancy. In mid May 2002 a bone marrow aspirate confirmed that I had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). There are many types of AML each resulting from the translocation (the breakage and joining) of specific chromosomes. A bone marrow biopsy was completed to confirm the type of AML that I had. A study of the cytogenetics from the biopsy revealed that my particular AML resulted from the translocation of chromosome 8 and 21.

After 4 months of chemotherapy treatment, it was thought I had achieved complete remission. It should be noted that complete remission does not imply cure of the disease. There may still be undetectable malignant cells within the body. About one month after the completion of the treatment life returned mostly to normal. I went back to the gym, kickboxing, and work. I continued to have regular blood tests and consultations with the haematology specialist to monitor my progress.

In late April of 2003, I again started feeling unwell. Went for a blood test, and the cell counts looked low. It was suggested that I have a bone marrow biopsy to confirm whether the disease had relapsed. Unfortunately, the leukaemia was back. In early May 2003 I was started on an induction course of chemotherapy to put the disease back into remission. The treatment plan this time around was to have a bone marrow transplant and so a search for a well matched unrelated donor was begun (since my brother was not a match).

The matching process involves comparing the major transplantation antigens between the recipient and the potential donor. These antigens are termed Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA). At Royal Perth Hospital, 10 HLA genes are typed in preparation for bone marrow transplants and a "perfect" match is termed a 10 out of 10 match. More detailed information on the HLA-System and HLA-Matching can be found at the Bone & Marrow Transplant Information Network.

After about 4 months and 3 rounds of chemotherapy, a well matched donor (9 out of 10 match, with the mismatch being minor) was found on the Hong Kong Bone Marrow Registry. The bone marrow will be harvested in Hong Kong on the 30th of September, 2003 and immediately flown back to Royal Perth Hospital for the transplant on the 1st of October. Five days of high dose chemotherapy are given prior to the transplant to eradicate the leukaemic cells and my bone marrow in preparation for the graft infusion. Details of my progress can be found by clicking on My Diary on the navigation bar.

I hope that my diary will provide future bone marrow transplant recipients with useful information from a patient's perspective.