Lymphoma survivor: ‘God bless the med center’

Wayne Naro with his grandson Lucas. Naro received at peripheral stem cell transplant at UNMC in 1984 to treat his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Every morning Wayne Naro checks his lymph nodes for swelling associated with the cancer that nearly killed him 18 years ago.

The ritual is his early warning system against non-Hodgkin lymphoma. With each sunrise, he gives thanks for another cancer-free day — gratitude that always includes UNMC.

“I was reconciled with the fact that I wasn’t going to see my children grow up or grow old with my wife,” Naro said. “UNMC was my last chance.”

Connected This story originally appeared in the Winter 2010 edition of UNMC Connect. View the full version of this story and other features online.

Naro was the 334th person at UNMC to receive a peripheral stem cell transplant (PSCT), a procedure that was pioneered in 1984 by Anne Kessinger, M.D., professor of oncology/hematology at UNMC and a hematologist/oncologist at The Nebraska Medical Center.

Since then, more than 2,800 PSCT’s have been performed at UNMC to treat leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and testicular cancer.

Today, Naro’s children are grown, he has a 4-year-old grandson, Lucas, and he and his wife are preparing to retire and move to Louisiana.

“God bless the med center,” he said.