(gentle guitar music) ♪ Always be strong ♪ ♪ And never give up ♪ - She was determined, determined to live.

- She was cancer free.

(gentle inspirational music) - I feel like I was in really good hands and I can't say enough about the treatment that I got.

- Things do change.

Nothing stays static.

A new day will come.

(gentle inspirational music continues) - Welcome to "Hope is Here."

I'm Carla Hill.

Life is full of surprises.

Some good, some bad, some life changing.

It's all about how you want to accept the news.

Just ask Daymara Cano.

In 2020, life was bright and full of joy.

Blessed with a beautiful home life.

She was enjoying watching her children grow and flourish.

But then when Daymara least expected, she faced something she didn't see coming regardless of what may have seemed like an insurmountable challenge.

She persevered, this is Daymara's story of hope.

(gentle guitar music) - I will describe myself as a typical mom of two kids, you know, like a boy and a girl, and just a regular person.

Just normal, just nothing out of the extraordinary, you know, like, very typical, very friendly, very like, passionate about everything that I do.

(gentle music) That Saturday morning I was actually planning to come to visit my grandparents with my two children and I woke up and I was like, oh my God, I can't move.

And then my husband saw me and he was like, "This is not normal and I'm gonna take you to the ER because you cannot even walk."

(gentle music continues) I knew that something was actually not right because when I walking through the ER, I remembered the nurse came, he dropped blood and everything the first time and then he came back and he did it again.

And then he came back and he did it again like, four times.

I was like, why so much, you know, like doing that?

Something is wrong.

The specialist came to the room and right on the thing it says oncologist and she was like, "We're here because we wanna tell you, you have leukemia and this is the process.

You're gonna be in the hospital.

It's gonna be for a very long time."

At first I was like, she's talking to me but she's not talking to me.

That was my reaction because I was not there.

(gentle music continues) - Daymara had a acute myeloid leukemia, which, based on risk stratification was a very high risk disease.

So altogether with chemotherapy only, the progression-free and overall survival is very limited.

- They're telling me during this pandemic that I have leukemia and that I'm gonna be here in the hospital by myself and that I need to go through this process by myself.

I need to be strong.

I was like, I remember that I told that doctor and she still remembers.

She's like, okay, and I'm gonna be out of the hospital by December because I need to be Christmas, I need to be with my family.

- I would say the first word that comes to my mind about Daymara is, she was determined.

Daymara was determined to live, she was determined to do well.

She was determined to come out a winner out of this fight and that's because of her family and because of her little kids.

So she had to do it.

- And then she started laughing.

She was like, "The first person that I'm telling them that they're very sick and the only thing that you're thinking is December."

(gentle music) - In Daymara's case we used an unrelated donor and even there we did not have a fully matched unrelated donor.

So we had to compromise and perform a stem cell transplantation from a mismatched unrelated donor.

For me, because I explored a novel approach with graft manipulation to modify the transplant product before we infuse it into the patient, allows me now to perform mismatched unrelated donors with promising outcome.

(gentle music continues) - We're together in this because of course I can prescribe my medications, I can prescribe chemo, I can give instructions but if the patients don't follow these instructions, if their spirit is broken, then they can't really get through this grueling treatments.

And so Daymara was determined and also she was really an amazing patient.

- What I think about my journey and I think about what I went through and the process, I'm grateful because she was brought in into my life and she was brought in as my BMT doctor, my bone marrow transplant doctor.

And Dr. Linhares, honestly, she goes above and beyond, when it comes to her patients.

When she talks to you, she talks to you as a doctor but she also talks to you as a friend.

- We are a team, so I always tell them, I can't do this without you.

What I do is 50%, but other 50% is you.

So we walk hand in hand.

(gentle music continues) (crowd cheering) - [Crowd Member] Guys, go!

- The celebration of the bell, is very, is, oh my god.

It's amazing because you know that everything that you went through is over.

And the words that they tell you for you to read is very powerful because once you're reading those words, everything comes to life.

Like it was an amazing feeling.

Ring this bell, three times well, It is toll to clearly say, my treatment's done, this course is run and I am on my way!

(bell dinging) (crowd cheering) - No matter how bad the prognosis is, I always give it my all, right.

And so, and that's we go for.

And so of course with this young mama, you know, when I saw her and I was like, failure is not an option.

She is going to be there for her children for a very long time.

We're going to win it.

- I'm actually enjoying like, every day with a joy on my face and every day is a happy day for me and a happy day for my family and every single thing I celebrate to the fullest.

(gentle guitar music) - Daymara, thank you for joining me.

I was impressed with your complete sense of determination.

You were not gonna be intimidated by cancer.

So let's go back and let our audience know that just a few years ago we were in the heat of the pandemic and you were feeling tired, you thought that you had Covid, but explain what was going through your mind when you first heard you were diagnosed, not with Covid, but with leukemia, and not to mention a form that rarely occurs in women your age.

You were in your thirties.

What was that like?

- It was tough.

Like, I guess, I didn't realize what was gonna happen and what was gonna be like, but when I heard the word cancer, like, my life changed in that moment and I also changed.

It was hard.

And all I could think about was my family and especially my two kids.

That was my main thing.

- you know, you said something really important.

You said that when you heard cancer it changed you and I think that's where you found this warrior spirit.

I read a quote that you said, "You know, well it's cancer but it's not going to kill me.

That cancer got the wrong one, the wrong person."

How did you find that determination?

- I think I always been very tough and even when, in everything, like, I don't cried often.

I don't complain often.

And I guess when I heard it was cancer, my thing inside of me was, you got the wrong person.

Like, you are not gonna get me.

Like, there're other things out there.

Like I'm a young mom and I wanna see my kids, I wanna see my grandkids, I wanna enjoy life and I know before things get better, things are worse.

And I guess that's what happened to me and that's how I got through it.

- And how did you make sure that your children wouldn't have this cloud of gloominess while you went through this situation with your leukemia?

- Like, I had mentioned plenty of time and like, my closest friend and my family, I have a village and that village actually support me till the end.

Like, I have very good friends, friends that are like family.

I have my family, people that I never thought they were gonna be there, they showed up for me, coworkers, it was amazing.

I think when you do good in life, good things is brought to you.

And I guess during my process, my kids, imagine I was away for almost three months, like two months and a half, more or less, when I was the first time admitted in the hospital and then I was away, when I went back to do my stem cell transplantation for like, another month, like, another 21, 31 days, more or less.

It was like almost a month.

And they knew that mommy was away, but they didn't felt that I was not there because they had their grandmothers, my husband tried to be there as well, friends, coworkers, you name it.

And I guess that part, they never realized what was going on because their lifestyle was always the same.

- My goodness.

I mean, I love your story because of how really unflappable and goal-oriented you were, not just with your health goals, but just the life everyday, daily life of your children, you know, your will to be at home for Christmas was a goal that you really stayed true to and it was a way to stay focused.

And do you think it helped your frame of mind, this attitude of having goals?

- If you divide cancer, it has can.

And I always put myself into the thing, I can do this.

- Wow.

- And I never thought about cancer as the entire word.

I always divided the word into can.

And just knowing on my worst days because I went through a lot like, talking about it is one thing but going through it is another thing.

And on my worst days I was always happy, no matter what because it was another day.

And he taught me to actually live day by day, not to plan ahead, not to rush things, just enjoy the little things.

And sometimes we take that for granted.

- We do Daymara, the attitude of looking at cancer as can and forgetting the rest, but living in the moment, I wanna talk to someone that is in your village.

I'd like to ask Jacqueline Garcia to join us.

She was very important during Daymara's cancer journey and as she was her bedside nurse from before her diagnosis up to, and Daymara mentioned it just a little bit, her bone marrow transplant.

So welcome Jacqueline and thank you for all that you've done.

Jacqueline I would love you to tell us what a bedside nurse does.

I would imagine it's a role that gets you to bond with the patient.

- A bedside nurse pretty much does everything for the patient.

You're in the room, almost all day long, in and out.

You give her meds, you do IVs, you assess the patient, you follow your doctor's orders.

But most importantly, amongst every task you're doing with the patient, you're in there so much that you're getting to know the patient.

I mean Daymara was very easy to get to know, every time I went in the room with her, she was such a positive, happy person, regardless of what she was going through, that she would even ask you about your life and she wanted to get to know you, so you can go in just to give one simple medication, but she still made the time to talk to you about you and we would go back and forth and I think probably the first day I had her as a patient, we were able to, I guess you could say click and we bonded very quickly and I looked forward to going to work to be there for her.

I mean we bonded a lot.

I'm pretty sure, I feel like I'm part of her family and I'm not.

(laughs) - Oh, well, listen, you are definitely part of that village that she talks about.

I'm wondering what was that first encounter like with Daymara, when you, you know, you hear that you're going to be working with a patient that has leukemia.

I mean, how much did her attitude help you?

It sounds like you walked into the room and she was ready for life.

- Yes, not every patient is like that, but when I did go into her room, I mean, you get report prior to going into her room and it obviously sounds like a sad story.

You're going into a young woman's room with kids and she just got this diagnosis but she had so much positivity in her and so much light in her, that you would go in the room and you probably wouldn't have known what she was going through, because she made it seem like, she wasn't, she was so strong and you would talk to her and anytime she went for something new that I wanted to be by her side, I felt like she was being there more for me because it was really emotional for me as well, because I can sympathize with how hard her journey was gonna be.

I knew what was coming next and how long her journey would take.

So I knew, I was nervous for her.

But she didn't let you get nervous.

She knew that she was going to like, she says that she can do it and she was very honest with how she felt.

- And I wonder Jacqueline, along those lines, I mean, it's amazing Daymara's attitude, as a health practitioner, how have you seen attitude play a role in the healing process?

- So I'm a firm believer, just as Daymara says, I mean, I think with a positive attitude and a positive mindset, you can overcome a lot of things.

I know she, I know just from the example of seeing Daymara and how throughout everything she had very rough days and she still managed to smile.

She still managed to show her positivity, that she was gonna get through this.

I am sure that anyone that tries with that positive attitude can overcome a lot of things.

- You know, Daymara did have to stay shielded in the hospital because the procedure completely strips the patient of their immune system.

How does getting rid of the immune system work during stem cell transplant?

- So basically Daymara's immune system prior to stem cell transplant was creating leukemia cells.

So therefore those cells were killed off during transplant by high dose chemotherapy and then her bone marrow was rescued with healthy cells from a new donor.

- I wanna talk about the underlying love story here because your immune system had to be diminished to zero as we talked about.

And during that treatment your husband had to stay with you at the hospital over periods of time.

What did your illness show you about your husband's commitment and how do you see him differently today?

- I think my husband is not a man of a lot of words.

Like he doesn't, during the entire process, I never saw my husband tell me something bad is gonna happen.

He was always happy, he was the champion.

He was the one that when he will see me like, sad or like, in pain, he will be the one that will put like a show for me to laugh.

And honestly, I see him more than just my husband.

He's actually my best friend.

He's, you name it, he was there for me and also for our kids and that show me that he's the one.

- Indeed, oh, thank you for sharing that.

That's so personal.

Thank you.

What a blessing to know that you chose the right one!

So listen.

- Yes.

- Daymara, talk to me about how far leukemia has come in terms of your treatment.

And Jackie, please, you know, jump in there as well because it's not too long ago that you had to find an exact match when it came to finding a donor.

So what did that mean and how have things changed?

Jacqueline, maybe you can begin with that.

How have things changed now with regard to the donor?

- So, it is still preferred to have a full-match donor but we are able to transplant with a half-match donor.

The worst effect of a less than full-match donor would be graft-versus-host disease and we are getting better at preventing it and managing it.

So that's why we're able to- - That's amazing to know.

Daymara, do you know who your donor is, by any chance?

- I do.

- You do?

- Yes.

Yes, we talked, after a year I was able to actually get his information and during my process he will send, like, little messages, not directly to me because it's not allowed due to HIPAA law.

So he will send messages to with my clinical coordinator and he will send those little messages to me while I was actually in the hospital.

She's like, your donor is saying hello to you and that he's praying that everything goes well.

And I do know him and I know his wife and we talk like here and there.

The date of my birthday, which I have a second birthday, September 18th, he sent me a little message saying "Happy Birthday.

And I'm so happy that I was able to actually change your life."

- You talk, I mean, your village is, wow.

You talked about having a village, how amazing!

Jacqueline, how did you keep up Daymara's hopes up during these dark moments, when she maybe didn't have a great day?

- Well that list can go on pretty long, I'm sure because I did spend a lot of time with Daymara throughout her whole process.

Even when I wasn't her nurse after her stem cell transplant, I always made sure to go see her.

Sometimes I would even call her room when I worked night shift, to make sure like, if she was awake, I didn't wanna have to go and walk in her room, wake her.

But I always just tried to go and be with her, spend time with her.

I checked on her.

I even checked on her husband.

I know how hard the process was also for him.

But like I said, they're both very strong people.

They're very positive.

It was like, they tried to take care of me, even though I wasn't the one going through it.

So it wasn't easy to find things that I can do to make her like, if I wanted to get her food or anything.

No, it was just company, she just liked when I was in there with her and we got to talk.

We talked about family, kids, her son in baseball always.

We always talked about that because those were things, that she said, she looks forward to getting to one day once all this was completed.

- Daymara, if you were to give advice to someone, who just learned they've been diagnosed with cancer, what would your message be to them Daymara?

- I think, my message will be for them to actually, I know, it's a tough word to hear and it is, the journey is not an easy journey but just in the process, if you look to the side, there's gonna be somebody else that is actually worse than you.

So you have to find between what's going on with you, the good things and bring every little good thing that comes out of this disease, that is gonna cheer you up.

And just hold on to that.

- Daymara, your children were young at the time of your diagnosis and yet so mature.

How did they help to support you?

- My kids, without knowing were actually the true troopers of the entire situation.

They're very strong souls.

Like it's incredible, I could talk so many good things about my son and my daughter.

But I'm gonna have to show you actually my son, which is actually here with me.

- Oh, please, please, I do.

- His name is Adrian.

My baseball star and he's actually the true champion.

He was the one like, with every phone call in the morning, in the afternoon, at night, him with his daughter and knowing that he was taking care of his little sister.

It actually helped me get through it.

- So this is Adrian.

Nice to meet you!

- Nice to meet you too.

- How do you feel seeing your mom sitting there in all her glory?

It must have been a really challenging time for you and your family, but how are you doing now?

- I'm doing good, thank you.

But just seeing her here with me, I'm just like, very grateful.

- I bet, I bet, the love is real between you two and so important to have that family as a village.

What are the things that you like to do with your mom now that she's much better?

- Baseball?

(laughs) - Aww.

- Thank you so much for all the love that you've given her.

Adrian, if you're able to share, Adrian, what would be your advice to other kids that have parents that are going through something like this.

- To just have hope.

Hope.

- And who's that there with you?

Who's this beauty?

- This one right here is my daughter, Victoria.

- Victoria, aww.

- But she's very shy.

This one is super shy but she's here.

- What a beautiful family.

- This is my (indistinct).

- What a beautiful family.

- Thank you.

And we're missing the husband.

The husband couldn't be here.

- But we have these two gorgeous people that you and your husband have brought into this world and you're obviously doing the right thing and teaching them how to be empathetic people, how to support those around them and how to just care.

So thank you Daymara, you showed the world- - And just be grateful with anything, anything, anything in life, just be grateful for the littlest thing that happened to you.

And then just have hope because at the end of the day, something good is gonna happen.

- Ah, Daymara, listen, you showed us, you are showing the world, what can happen when you never lose hope.

Your determination made you so strong and resilient.

As your relationships grew through your experience.

I mean, this has been such an honor to be able to share with our audience.

We wish you all the best and we wanna thank you and Jacqueline for joining us here on "Hope is Here."

Thank you so much and everyone be well.

Thank you.

(gentle inspirational music)