Hope Grows In Muddy Places - The Difference Early Support Made During My Bone Marrow Transplant
A very special thank you to D'Ann Schaefer for contributing the following blog post! You will always have a special place in my heart. ~ Jill
The Difference Early Support Made During My Bone Marrow Transplant
When you are preparing for a bone marrow transplant, you are warned about an overwhelming list of possible side effects. One of the concerns was the effect treatment could have on my mouth, teeth, and enamel.
What I will always remember is that Jill reached out to me.
She understood that my treatment could put my oral health at risk, and she did not wait for me to develop a problem before offering help. Even though we had only a short window before my treatment began, Jill guided me through what needed to be done ahead of time. She helped me prepare my mouth for treatment and made sure I had products that would be gentle and safe to use when my body was at its most vulnerable.
She provided me with extra-soft toothbrushes and carefully selected oral-care products designed to help with dryness and sensitivity. She also taught me how important it was to be proactive instead of waiting until I was already dealing with painful side effects.
During my transplant, I experienced dry mouth and some minor irritation, but I never developed the painful mouth sores I had been warned about. Every patient and treatment experience is different, but I truly believe Jill’s early intervention, guidance, and the products she provided played an important role in keeping my mouth as healthy and comfortable as possible.
Her support gave me something else that was incredibly valuable during treatment: a sense of control.
Cancer treatment can make you feel as though so much is happening to your body that you cannot prevent or change. Having the proper products and knowing how to care for my mouth gave me one small but meaningful way to protect myself each day.
Looking back, I realize how crucial that early intervention was. Jill did not simply give me products after a problem developed. She recognized the potential risks, reached out with genuine concern, and helped me take preventive steps before treatment began—even with very little time to prepare.
I will always be grateful to her for that.
Jill’s work is about so much more than handing someone a toothbrush or recommending an oral-care product. She understands how cancer treatment can affect a person’s teeth, enamel, comfort, and overall quality of life. She also understands that oral side effects can interfere with a patient’s ability to eat, drink, speak, and receive proper nutrition during an already difficult time.
Most importantly, Jill understands the value of reaching patients early.
When you are facing something as overwhelming as a bone marrow transplant, you do not always know what questions to ask or which concerns deserve attention. Having someone step forward, recognize a need, and guide you through it can make an enormous difference.
Jill’s kindness and the impact she made in my life also inspired me to think about how I could use my own experiences to help someone else. I may not be able to support people through their oral care in the way Jill supported me, but I can offer something I deeply understand: hope in the middle of a season that feels impossibly hard.
That desire is why I wrote Hope Grows in Muddy Places: Lessons from the Cattail. The book shares honest reflections from my cancer journey alongside Scripture, prayers, and encouragement for people walking through difficult seasons—and for the people who love them but may not know what to say.
The book also became the heart of the Hope Grows Mission. My hope and dream is to get it into as many hands as possible through individuals, hospitals, cancer centers, support organizations, and community partnerships. I want it to reach people who need the reminder that they are not alone and that even in the places they never wanted to be, hope can still grow.
Hope Grows in Muddy Places: Lessons from the Cattail is available to order on Amazon.
Thank you, Jill, for reaching out when you did. Thank you for helping me prepare, protecting my oral health, easing my dry mouth, and giving me safe, gentle products to use throughout treatment. Your knowledge, kindness, and proactive care made a genuine difference in my transplant experience.
I am incredibly thankful for you and for the work you continue to do for people facing cancer.
About the Author:
D’Ann Schaefer is a wife, mother of twin boys, photographer, author, and longtime multiple myeloma survivor. Diagnosed at age 22, she has undergone radiation, chemotherapy, tandem bone marrow transplants, donor lymphocyte infusions, and CAR T-cell therapy. Through it all, her faith and lived experience shaped a desire to help others feel less alone in their hardest seasons. She is the author of Hope Grows in Muddy Places: Lessons from the Cattail and the founder of the Hope Grows Mission, created to place faith-filled encouragement into the hands of people walking through cancer and other difficult seasons.
Find "Hope Grows in Muddy Places" HERE
Offers From Our Partners:
