“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge will award to me on the day.” ~ II Tim. 4:6-8
In Loving Memory of my sister, my best friend and my right hand woman. For 2 years she fought Leukemia with courage, vengeance and dignity. She was overcome with pneumonia and died April 30th, 6:20 am, Leukemia-free. God Bless her and comfort her until we all see her again.
Darla K Pyles was born on April 20th, 1972 in Olean, NY when I was 5 years old. Her childhood was spent moving around quite a bit, but she graduated High School in 1990 in Moreno Valley, CA landing her in the West for her short adult life. Though we were not close as young siblings, that all changed as she got older. Darla moved in with me in 1991 and we lived together in Glendale, CA for 7 years, enjoying the California lifestyle and all it has to offer. Darla loved the beach, fishing and camping with her friends and my job with KLOS Radio afforded us the Hollywood Rock and Roll nightlife of concerts, back stage and endless parties with Rock Stars.
Our house in the Glendale hills provided a home base to our wildly assorted group of friends, and because we often worked over-nights, it was not uncommon to see steaks grilling and Bloody Marys flowing at 8am. We grew fresh vegetables and herbs in a flower box on the deck, and Darla’s boyfriend Dan was always whipping up gourmet meals to feed the masses. Trips to Vegas were a common occurrence and Black Jack downtown at the El Cortez, sipping vodka cranberry, was one of our favorite pastimes. Darla and I worked hard, we played hard and we were always the “hostesses with the mostest-es.”
When I met my husband Mike Learn and moved to Arizona in 1998, one of the most difficult things I had to do was leave my sister. We were an unbeatable and inseparable team of fun and wit, however she was moving on to set up a household in Long Beach with her High School Sweetheart, Dan. The timing just seemed to be right for the move for both of us. The following summer, however, I invited Darla to tag along with us on our annual pilgrimage to the 1999 Sturgis Rally and Races. That 2-week vacation turned out to be one of the best vacations a person can have in a lifetime. Traveling across the country with a motley crew of bikes, bikers and “support personnel” in the truck, proved to be the perfect recipe for hundreds of stories, laughs, cries and ridiculous arguments.
It was during this trip Darla met our brother-from-another-mother, Krash, and was introduced, for the first time, to the biker way of life that I had become so involved in. We took the long, back-roads route from Tempe, AZ to Sturgis and back, spending much time enjoying the beautiful American Outdoors. Once the vacation was over, she was hooked.
Not long after the infamous trip to Sturgis, in January of 2000, Darla joined me in Arizona. She began working in the motorcycle industry, running the office at the custom paint shop where Mike and Krash worked. The biker environment and culture was a perfect match for the quick-witted and sharp-tongued redhead, and Darla had finally found her element. As fate would have it, our parents, Dan and 2 of her closest friends from California, Danielle and Chuck, would find their way to Arizona over the next 3 years.
Through her relationship with Bourget’s Bike Works, Darla met Hugh King on the very first Biker Build Off between Roger Bourget and Billy Lane. She had done some film work for the paint portion of the Bourget Build and had the opportunity to attend a dinner with the production crew. This dinner would prove to be a very important event in her career as she charmed Hugh and the others with her humor and vibrancy.
When I founded Rolling Chrome in 2003, Darla came on board immediately as my right hand woman and the dynamic duo was together again, working in the industry we loved. Not long after the new company was formed, Biker Build Offs became a series. Rolling Chrome was hired for video graphics and Darla was asked to work as Production Assistant on several of the episodes. This opportunity threw Darla into high gear and she became the roving reporter, photographer and social queen bee of the budding motorcycle mainstream. Between the BBOs and Rolling Chrome, Darla traveled all over the country attending events, parties and trade shows where people from all walks of life were drawn to her fiery personality, charm and striking beauty. Darla had the uncanny ability to forge lifelong friendships in a matter of minutes and she truly loved what she was doing.
Darla began feeling “something was wrong” in mid 2003. By the Spring of 2004, she was seeing doctors and trying her best to figure out why she just did not feel like herself. She was eventually referred to a blood specialist, and on August 20, 2004 she was diagnosed with Aggressive AML Leukemia. Ten days later, August 30, 2004, she was checked in to the hospital and began treatment, commencing 20 months of fighting for her life.
The initial treatment plan of chemotherapy was not only unsuccessful, but left her with typhlitis, a condition with 0% chance of survival, and a severe drug allergy. After nearly a month in ICU, Darla became the first patient in Banner history to survive the illness. We took her to The City of Hope weak, and with more Leukemia in her body than before the first round of chemo. Her only chance for survival was a bone marrow transplant, and that chance was slim at best. By the grace of God, her twin brother David was a 12 for 12 match, and we had a donor. Over the following 15 days, Darla received the strongest chemos available and underwent the maximum radiation allowed in one lifetime.
She received David’s stem cells on November 8th, 2004. The new stem cells were accepted and she began showing signs of graft at just 9 days. Though the 2-3 weeks after transplant were horrifying as her body healed from being completely broken down by chemo and radiation, there were constant signs of improvement, and miraculously, we had Darla home for Christmas 2004.
By summer of 2005, Darla was beginning to gain some strength and we had some great months together. She spent a lot of time with my 4 year old daughter, which seemed to be fantastic therapy. She was able to get around the house, enjoyed cooking and got out as often as possible with the family. When my brother became engaged, Darla and I took an active role in helping to plan the event and she was able to be in the wedding party.
The week after the wedding, we found out that the Leukemia had returned. Darla would have to endure another bone marrow transplant. The procedure was repeated, less the radiation, and she received my brother’s stem cells just 4 days shy of one year from her first transplant. Though the procedure went well, and she was again home just in time for Christmas 2005, Darla never fully recovered from the second transplant. In March of this year, she was checked in to the hospital with a severe case of graft versus host disease (GVHD), which the doctor’s claimed was the key to her cure. Graft versus host proves that the immune system is working, and it is during this phase that the body kills off any remnants of leukemic cells. Just before her birthday, the GVHD was completely under control and she was being prepped to go home. The doctors were extremely optimistic that GVHD had done its job, and she needed only to regain her strength to return to a normal, productive life.
The day after her birthday, April 21, 2006, Darla had a chest x-ray that showed signs of possible pneumonia. She was put on antibiotics and anti-fungals and moved to ICU. Sunday, April 23rd, my mom and I spent the day with her, played games and had a good time. Monday, her sense of humor was in full swing and we enjoyed a few good laughs on her current situation. Wednesday, April 26th, her chest x-ray showed signs of significant spread of a fungal pneumonia. Suddenly, everything changed and the doctors scheduled a family meeting for Friday.
My brother flew in Thursday morning and spent the day with her. She had a brain scan and a bone marrow biopsy scheduled to rule out infection in the brain and sinus and to also rule out Leukemia. Friday, April 28th the family met in her room with her doctor and listened as we were told that her brain scan had some back negative, her lungs appeared to be no better, no worse than the day before and we discussed what would happen over the next 2 weeks,
At this time, the bone marrow results were not available. We left the hospital Friday evening as Darla was wheeled to OR for a routine procedure to ensure that the infection did not spread into her sinuses. I told her I would see her in the morning. My mom stayed with her for that night. I would never speak to my sister again.
After the procedure, Darla and my mom went back to her room. She was obviously very weak and groggy. As the evening wore on, my mom watched her condition worsen, and by 4am, she was struggling to breath. She was put on the ventilator. At 8am my brother and I went up to get my mom and to see Darla. My brother scheduled a meeting with the doctors for 1pm. He and my father went up at that time. The first thing the doctors told them was that Darla was 100% Leukemia FREE. And then, he showed them the chest x-ray. In 24 hours the infection had swept throughout her lungs like a wildfire. The prognosis was now grim.
By 3pm my mom and I were back up at the hospital. The entire family, and Dan, her boyfriend of 19 years, now at her bedside, sat in awe at what had transpired over the past 24 hours. Bernadette, the nurse who admitted Darla to the City of Hope for her first transplant, asked permission to visit as a friend. At 6 pm, the doctor called and there was no change in her status. At 7 pm, the night nurse came on, sat us all down in the room and explained that Darla was most likely not going to make it through the night.
At 8:10 pm her doctor called me, her Power of Attorney, and explained how the rest of the evening would go down. At this time she was on 100% life support, but her body was shutting down quickly. With my parents at my side, we made the decision to make her as comfortable as possible, as she spent her last hours alive. She was put on massive amounts of her favorite painkiller, Dilaudid, and her vital signs showed that she was completely relaxed. The next 10 hours would prove to be the most agonizing hours of my life as I watched my sister, surrounded by my parents, her twin brother, Dan, the love of her life, and her best friends, slip away.
From August 20th, 2004 to April 30th, 2006, Darla fought Aggressive AML Leukemia with class, grace and the courage of a lion. She attacked each day and each challenge with a good attitude and fearless countenance. The City of Hope doctors and nurses loved her as she touched each of them with her spicy personality, just as she had affected those she encountered in her life before the disease. Each and every person that had the opportunity to care for her felt the light that she carried within her soul and many have commented that they are better people having met Darla. During the last 20 months of Darla’s life, she learned patience and had to let go of vanity, though she never lost her dignity. No matter how ill she was, Darla’s head was held high, she walked when she could and she was always dressed with style. She truly fought a good fight, and deserves her crown.
Please visit www.DarlaPyles.com to see more about Darla, to learn about Leukemia or to leave a message.
