Since birth, identical twins Karen Rodman and Linda Thomas have been inseparable.
"We have been close our whole lives. We are one coat of paint," Linda said.
They raised their kids together, they worked together, and at one point, they even lived on the same street.
"We had our boys together 33 years ago," Karen said.
"We would do anything for each other," Linda said.
In 2021, Linda was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that affects plasma cells.
"I did chemo, radiation. The cancer ate a part of my C1 vertebra, so I did neck surgery and got into remission and had a bone marrow transplant on October 22," Linda said.
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Her fight wasn't over. The disease also forced Thomas into kidney failure and doctors told her she was in need of a transplant.
"Honestly, I never even thought about it. When they said we got to do this, and you may have to have a kidney transplant... I just did it right away... I didn't even think about it," Karen said.
"They said that and she said, 'I got one right here,' and raised her hand," Linda said. "We were sure we were identical and going to be a perfect match."
And she was right. Doctors immediately started testing and learned Karen and Linda were a 99% match across the board. That meant Thomas could avoid taking rejection drugs that could have caused her cancer to return.
"Her not having to do the rejection drugs, you know, was the best thing, it was the best option. Also, cause the myeloma — a lot of times they said because of the rejection will bring back the myeloma and she will have to deal with that risk, and right now, she has been on remission for two years and we did not want to, you know, mess with that," Karen said.
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In October, Thomas underwent a successful transplant procedure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Southern California.
The twin sisters stayed in the hospital for several weeks recovering but made their way back home just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving together.
"I'm just thankful that everything is in the rearview mirror and that we can move on and be positive about things. We are looking forward to 2025."
The sisters said they are also very thankful for their support system during this challenging time. They say their family and friends really kept their spirits up.
This story was originally published by Jhovani Carrillo at Scripps News Las Vegas.
