By Blake Belden  

Face-to-face after eight years. Jeff Lanham finally hugged Anja Jehnes-Inanli. 

It was a tear-filled moment for everyone in the small room off the entrance to VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in November 2024. 

Jeff, who lives in Virginia, has been struggling with a chronic type of blood cancer for nearly two decades. Anja is from Germany, and her bone marrow donation saved Jeff’s life.  

The care team who took care of Jeff and helped facilitate the transportation of Anja’s bone marrow also exchanged hugs and recounted the powerful moments they’ve spent together, with Jeff and Anja’s families in tow.  

“It’s kind of an overwhelming sensation when you come in contact with a person that you know deep down that they saved your life,” Jeff said. “The appreciation for someone being willing to do that, and for a complete stranger, is just an awesome concept even to grasp.” 

Jeff Lanham's family and Anja Jenhes-Inanli's family met with members of the extended clinical team who cared for Jeff. (VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center)

It all started one morning in 2002, when Jeff woke up with painfully swollen legs, from his knees to his ankles. Blood tests in an emergency room soon revealed severely thick blood. 

Soon he began a treatment program for polycythemia vera, a chronic type of cancer characterized by the presence of too many red blood cells in the bone marrow. It’s an incurable disease that can often be managed effectively for many years. 

However, after 13 years of treatment, Jeff’s blood began to rapidly decline. In 2015, his doctor suggested that he make an appointment with John McCarty, M.D., medical director of the Cellular Immunotherapies and Transplant (CIT) Program at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

After some additional testing at Massey, it became clear that the polycythemia vera had transitioned into myelofibrosis, a rare type of blood cancer where the accumulation of scar tissue in the bone marrow prevents the adequate production of red blood cells. Jeff was told he would need a bone marrow transplant, in which a person’s unhealthy blood stem cells are entirely replaced with healthy ones through infusion. 

“When polycythemia falls into the myelofibrosis picture, it’s a bit harder to cure,” said Massey oncologist Harold Chung, M.D. Jeff was one of Chungs's last patients before his retirement in early 2025. “When we saw Jeff initially for his myelofibrosis, we knew that it was in evolution, and that was the reason to push for a transplant.” 

His daughter, Grace, was 11 years old at the time, and Jeff had hoped to stay on his current medication until she went to college, but this goal soon became impossible. Jeff chose to undergo a bone marrow transplant at Massey. 

“I felt like there was just something different about the folks at Massey in how they seemed to watch out for me,” Jeff said. 

A comprehensive cancer center with ‘unbelievable’ quality care 

Massey established the first bone marrow transplant unit in Virginia in 1988 and remains a national leader in advanced therapies for patients with a variety of blood and bone marrow disorders, providing leading-edge, collaborative and comprehensive care for patients. 

From educating them on treatment options to making sure they had access to insurance support services if they needed it, Jeff and his wife, Jane, immediately recognized the teamwork of his Massey care team.  

“It truly is a tag team of people embracing the concept of ‘who is next up.’ Dr. William Clark took wonderful care of me when I had one of my infections because my immune system was so beat up,” Jeff said.  

While Jeff’s transplant was successful, over the next three years his health care journey was filled with ups and downs. First, his spleen — an organ that stores and filters red blood cells and helps the body fight infections — was so enlarged from the polycythemia vera, that his blood counts were not rebounding as expected. The low blood counts eventually brought on a brain breed, leading to emergency surgery.  

It’s just the most caring network. We can never say enough about VCU. It was a family. It really is a family in there. 

Jane Lanham, wife of VCU Health patient Jeff Lanham

 Soon after, Jeff’s spleen was removed. However, during the procedure, surgeons realized Jeff also had melanoma on his scalp that had spread to a lymph node. This led to another surgery to remove the lymph nodes and tissue around his neck, followed by radiation and immunotherapy. 

Understandably, this was a difficult time for Jeff and his family. Two cancer diagnoses within three years is hard to manage, both emotionally and physically. But having a compassionate, comprehensive team available in one place made accessing the right care at the right time easier for the Lanhams. 

“Obviously the doctors deserve a great deal of credit, but it’s the other staff members that fill out the team and make it go. That quality of care is really just unbelievable,” he said.  

Tears rolled down Jane’s face as she talked about the “sweet valet gentleman” at VCU Medical Center who offered his help when Jeff was feeling sick one day. 

“It’s just the most caring network. We can never say enough about VCU,” Jane said. “It was a family. It really is a family in there.” 

Meeting his bone marrow donor for the first time eight years later 

In the United States, patients have to wait one year following their bone marrow transplant before requesting direct contact with their donor, but other countries’ waiting periods can be longer. Privacy rules and policies are put in place to protect both the transplant recipient and the donor in these instances.  

Because Jeff lived in the U.S., but his donor lived in Germany, Jeff had to wait two years before being able to directly connect with Anja.  

“Shortly after the two-year window was up, Anja and I were introduced through a card. We kind of went from there, and we shared email addresses and started writing to each other,” Jeff smiled. “We’ve swapped dog pictures, sent birthday greetings and things like that.” 

Anja, who said there are numerous bone marrow drives widely available in Germany, donated her bone marrow to Jeff in 2016 after only being on the registry for about one year. 

“[For me], it was just a good thing, and an easy thing, to do,” Anja said. “It’s crazy that this process works over this distance from Germany to Richmond.” 

Anja Jehnes-Inanli donated her bone marrow to Jeff Lanham in 2016 after only being on the registry for about one year before she received a call. (Contributed photos)

Jeff and Anja had been communicating for six years, but it wasn’t until 2024 that they met in person for the first time. Anja and her family, including her husband Serkan and her son Niklas, had a vacation planned in the U.S. They flew into Washington, D.C., and on their way down to Florida, made a pit stop to stay with Jeff and his family in Richmond for a couple of days. 

“I’m so happy,” Anja said smiling. “I was very excited and nervous to meet, but it’s been incredible.” 

Jeff added: “It’s just really different when you finally meet face-to-face knowing that person has made some kind of life-altering commitment for you.” 

For many patients, the last place they want to return is the medical facility where they spent the better part of three years undergoing grueling treatment on a near-daily basis, but for Jeff and his family, it was a welcome reunion.  

“We had to show Anja where they brought Jeff to life,” Jane said. 

Chung was emotionally struck by the moment these two families and clinicians came together. After 28 years as a physician, this reunion was a gift as he set off for retirement. 

“It gives me chills,” Chung said, adding that it’s rare for a transplant recipient to meet their donor, especially one from another country. “I get to meet some of these unselfish donors, and they are there to help somebody else out from the goodness of their hearts. I’ve always been impressed by that.” 

Chung said he was thrilled to be able to meet two of Jeff’s biggest heroes, referring to Anja and Grace, who is now 21 years old. She just graduated in May 2025 from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. 

“There’s a picture of Grace on our wall when she turned 12 that Jeff brought in,” Chung said. “We were able to celebrate all of her milestones with him.” 

Among those milestones was this unforgettable day, as the families of a cancer survivor, bone marrow donor and clinicians reunited as one. 

After his life was saved by a donor, Jeff Lantham became an advocate for the bone marrow donor registry. Read more about his journey and what it takes to become a donor.

Inspired by this story? Read more about our patients and providers.