As family reunions go, this one took the cake, literally. Last fall, Marianne Ellman and her brother, Dr. William Bernie, dug into a celebratory confection marking the 10th anniversary of Marianne’s successful bone-marrow transplant for acute myelogenous leukemia.

The event was especially poignant because William was Marianne’s marrow donor and was celebrating his birthday that day. In addition, Marianne and her husband, Harley, had recently observed their 40th wedding anniversary. Seven other family members joined them for the special trip to Fred Hutchinson from her home in Dayton, Ohio, marking Marianne’s milestone with a generous donation to cancer research.

That William is one of many doctors in her family was significant when Marianne — then an athletic 51-year-old mother of three — was diagnosed with leukemia. Testing revealed that two siblings were perfect matches as marrow donors. William volunteered to be her donor.

Marianne faced her disease head on. "I just wanted to take care of it. It’s always scary when you have a disease like that, but I had a great support system and trusted the physicians at Fred Hutchinson."

In the intervening years, Marianne has remained cancer-free. And today, Marianne is as active as ever. She walks three-and-a-half miles daily, plays tennis and golf, does aerobics and Pilates and works out with a trainer. "I didn’t wait too long to get active again after transplant," she said.

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