Wisconsin Husband and Father Given a Second Chance at Life

MILWAUKEE, June 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) observes Father’s Day by sharing Dan Knuf’s story, a father of two sons who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and sought help from his father-in-law, a former scientist at MCW.

In early 2013, Dan Knuf had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Within hours, Knuf was already talking to doctors about receiving a bone marrow transplant. His wife Andrea began researching the treatment options for this form of leukemia and saw her father’s name, Dr. Robert Truitt, mentioned in much of the information.

As it turns out, in the 1990s, Dr. Truitt had joined the MCW team of scientists that helped perfect bone marrow transplant techniques to cure people of their leukemia. They followed the physican-scientists who invented bone marrow transplantation in the late 1960s and dramatically improved outcomes for people who received transplants.

When Dan told Dr. Truitt about his diagnosis, his father-in-law told him to look no further than the Froedtert & MCW Clinical Cancer Center, its outstanding multiple myeloma program and Dr. Parameswaran Hari, one of the most widely respected bone marrow transplant physicians.

Today, more than five years after receiving a double bone marrow transplant at Froedtert & MCW, Knuf’s cancer is in complete remission.

While most of Dr. Truitt’s contact with patients came through examining blood samples in his laboratory, Dr. Truitt, now retired, said he feels extremely grateful to see his years of research work end with a direct impact on a member of his family.

Knuf said of his father-in-law, “It’s almost like we were supposed to be together that way.”

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SOURCE Medical College of Wisconsin