FARGO — A local family is celebrating a loved one's journey to recovery from leukemia during this year's Roger Maris All-Star Week.
Ryan Johnson, 57, of Casselton, first noticed something was wrong in December 2022 while at work.
“I told my wife, Heather, 'I feel like someone took a sledgehammer and hit me in the chest,' and she said, 'Why are you here? Why didn't you go to the emergency room?'” Johnson recalled.
After tests, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and was eventually admitted to the Roger Maris Cancer Center.
“This is a cancer that affects the bone marrow, where cancer cells crowd out normal, healthy bone marrow and replace it with cancer cells, so the patient's bone marrow becomes less healthy and they become diseased,” said Dr. Seth Mariske, a hematologist at Sanford Health and medical director of the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at Roger Maris Cancer Center.
When he was looking for a donor for a bone marrow transplant, his brothers wanted to help in any way they could.
“I wanted to get tested right away and be a match. I wanted to be there for him,” said Johnson's sister, Robin Larson.
As Larson had hoped, it was a perfect match.
When the transplant took place in May 2023, the surgery itself didn't go smoothly for Larson.
While attempting to harvest stem cells through apheresis, he developed anaphylaxis, forcing him to change his plans.
“I think I just started crying and said, 'So, can we still do a direct bone marrow transplant?' And he looked at me with the kindest eyes in the world and said, 'Yeah, I can't believe you've already requested it,'” Larson said.
“She was prepared for the bone marrow extraction and bone marrow collection before I was, which just goes to show how dedicated the family was, and in this case especially how dedicated Robin was to helping her brother,” Dr. Mariske said.
Now, more than a year later, Johnson is thriving thanks to her sister's help.
“Right now I feel great. I can exercise, I can go outside and ride my bike and walk, so it feels really good,” he said.
More than a year after the transplant, doctors are still monitoring Johnson for signs of recurrence, but so far, things are going well.
