Patient Profile: Agatha Kofa Showing Strength Through a Stem Cell Transplant
Agatha Kofa had intense back pain in February of 2022 and no matter what remedy she tried, nothing helped. “I didn’t know what was going on,” Ms. Kofa recalled. After the pain became intolerable, she went to the emergency room hoping for some kind of relief along with answers as to what was causing the pain.
While any relief would be hard to find for quite some time, Ms. Kofa did get an answer as to what was driving her severe pain. She had a back fracture caused by multiple myeloma, a cancer that develops in the bone marrow where plasma cells, a type of white blood cell, grow out of control. Ms. Kofa and her family were devastated but relied on their faith for comfort and strength.
Ms. Kofa’s primary physician recommended she meet with Dr. Srilata Gundala, founder of Hope & Healing Cancer Services in Hinsdale, Illinois. Dr. Gundala visited Ms. Kofa while she was in the hospital, and they have worked together ever since. “You have a family at Hope & Healing,” says Ms. Kofa, “I was never alone. I had my family, and I had the people at Hope & Healing, who are like family. They made having a sickness easier for me.”
A protocol of strong chemotherapy was started to put Ms. Kofa on the path to healing, but it would be a bumpy road for her. A few months into her chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant was recommended. “I told them NO,” laughs Ms. Kofa, “but by and by I got an understanding of it. The doctors told me I would die soon if I didn’t try it. I prayed and the Lord gave me strength.” Ms. Kofa’s transplant was scheduled for Valentine’s Day 2023, a hopeful sign, the family thought.
The type of stem cell transplant Ms. Kofa received was autologous, meaning her body’s own healthy stem cells were harvested rather than using a donor’s stem cells. The harvesting of cells occurs several months before they are transplanted back into the body to do the important work of healing stem cells are known to do. After harvesting and right before transplant, comes an intense blast of chemotherapy meant to fully dismantle the body’s immune system before a new one can be knit back together, cell by cell.
The process for transplant patients and their families is intense and scary. With no immune system in place, patients become extremely vulnerable to infections, which can be life threatening. Ms. Kofa remembers those days, “I was in disarray. I caught an infection, and my oxygen levels were very, very low,” recalls Ms. Kofa, “You can’t believe all the things that happened to me. Thank God that God was there, and my daughter and son were by my side.”
Many patients spend time after a transplant in a rehabilitation facility, but Ms. Kofa’s family wanted her close and at home, “The kids did not want me to go.” Instead, the plan was for Ms. Kofa’s daughter, Zoe, to become a primary caregiver, nursing her mother through the long recovery process involved with stem cell transplantation. “It was hard,” says Zoe, “but I just needed to make sure she was okay. I was in that mode.” ‘Move towards the future’ is what Zoe told herself. “I want her to be better,” Zoe says, “so we got through it. The worst was behind us.”
With the help of Dr. Gundala, who helped coordinate care with the hospital where the stem cell transplant occurred, Ms. Kofa and her family, step-by-step and cell-by-cell, began the process of her recovery. “You don’t know how to explain it,” says Ms. Kofa, “It takes months – I wasn’t able to do anything for myself for six or seven months. It’s like you have no strength at all, from head to toe. I couldn’t stand, let alone walk. You have your life, but it’s also gone from you at the same time.”
Ms. Kofa remains grateful for all the care she received during her recovery, “My daughter was always there. I told her to go home when I was in the hospital, but she wouldn’t. She never gave up. And the nurses understand, they know. They do everything for you.”
Almost two years post-transplant, Ms. Kofa is doing very well. She no longer needs monthly visits to the stem cell clinic and her visits to Hope & Healing Cancer Services are now monthly instead of weekly. She gets an annual bone marrow biopsy to see if there are any cancer cells still present. When asked if that process is painful, “WHOO-EE, YES!” exclaims Ms. Kofa. Her next bone marrow biopsy is scheduled for the spring of 2025, and if that one is clear, it will be the last scheduled biopsy, but Ms. Kofa will remain on chemotherapy.
Through this process, Dr. Gundala and the staff at Hope & Healing have grown close with Ms. Kofa and her children, “Agatha is like family at HHCS now,” says Dr. Gundala. “A stem cell transplant is never recommended lightly, but when it is needed and provides the best chance for a patient to survive, we do whatever it takes to help our patients through the process. Working in tandem with the stem cell transplant team, we provide whatever is needed, medically and comfort-wise. It is such a joy to see Agatha thriving again, on the other side of her transplant.”
When asked for any advice she would give to another patient who has been told that a stem cell transplant is their best chance at survival, Ms. Kofa is clear, “With good people beside you, you will be okay. Give it to God and trust in God. I understand you don’t want to go through it, but pray to God to give you strength. ‘Okay, God,’ I told myself, ‘We can do this.’ Know that you are not alone.”
Feeling alone was never something Ms. Kofa experienced during her treatment and recovery, “Some people die from this and I am alive. When I see the doctor’s faces, Dr. Gundala’s face, I feel so good. When good people care for you, you feel like you will live again.”
Written By: Sheila Quirke, MSW
Reviewed By: Srilata Gundala, MD
