Windsor symphony director who traveled for stem cell transplant lauds new Windsor hospital program
Robert Franz had to get his transplant in London
The longtime music director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra says his recent battle with a recurrence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma would've been easier if he could've received a stem-cell transplant in Windsor instead of London — something that is now possible for some patients thanks to a new program at the Windsor Regional Hospital.
Maestro Robert Franz experienced a recurrence in February, around five months before the hospital announced the launch of its autologuous stem cell transplant program.
"It's not easy as a sick person when you're not feeling good, and you're in the middle of chemo to be traveling back and forth two hours," Franz said.
"Some people have to go to Hamilton, which is, of course, twice as far."
Franz had to make the trip three or four times, he said.
Autologous, or auto stem cell transplants, involve a patient's own stem cells being collected and then reinfused back into their body following intensive chemotherapy or radiation, the hospital said in a news release Monday when it announced the program.
"This is a major step forward in offering comprehensive transplant services right here in Windsor-Essex," the release said.
Windsor hospital aiming to do 30 transplants per year
"Prior to this, patients had to travel significant distances to access specialized centres outside the region, resulting in logistical challenges, increased stress for patients and families and potential disruptions to continuity of care."
The hospital's initial roll-out of the program will focus on patients with multiple myeloma, it said.
Its goal is to provide transplants to 30 patients per year, and the first procedure was scheduled to take place July 8.
Franz was first diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021.
LISTEN | Robert Franz on his battle with cancer
He underwent intensive chemotherapy, and doctors told him if the cancer stayed away for three years, it likely wouldn't return.
But in February, he want to his doctor with a suspected gall bladder issue and learned that the cancer was back.
"The good news was it came back very localized," he said, "not throughout my body like it was the first time."
The treatment for a recurrence involves more chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, he added.
"It's just incredible the things that they can do," he said.
Franz is still awaiting a PET scan to see if the process eradicated all the cancer.
"That's the hope and that's the desire," he said, "and ... we're going to wait and see."