The bride was beaming. So was the groom, though the guests couldn''t really tell. Michael Riley''s smile was hidden behind an isolation mask for most of his wedding to Tina Dutzel in the Probstein Chapel at Barnes-Jewish Hospital north Dec. 12.

Riley had undergone a bone marrow transplant 15 days earlier. Getting married in the chapel symbolized the start of his new life, according to Riley and bride, Tina Dutzel. The Rev. Julia Berger, spiritual care chaplain for 5900 bone marrow transplant unit, performed the ceremony. Along with family and close friends, 5900 staff and Riley''s transplant coordinator, Kathy Martin, RN, attended. A small, but joyous reception followed in the family lounge.

Riley was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. "It tore our lives apart," he says. "I was a roughing carpenter, a framer, I was supposed to be a tough guy. This disease disabled me."

Riley''s doctors said his best chance for survival was a bone marrow transplant. He was admitted to the Siteman Cancer Center, the second largest bone marrow transplant program in the country, Nov. 18. Riley prepared himself for the chemotherapy that would destroy his diseased marrow before the transplant by cutting off his12-inch ponytail. He donated it to Locks of Love, a charity that makes wigs for children with cancer.

He received his bone marrow transplant Nov. 26. Though the marrow came from an unrelated, anonymous donor, it was a perfect match.

Because the transplant process had weakened his immune system, Riley could not go to St. Louis City Hall to pick up his marriage license. Dutzel made arrangements for a clerk to come to the City Hall parking lot, where Riley was waiting in a surgical mask and gloves in Dutzel''s car. The clerk administered the oath through the window and passed documents for Riley to sign. "I was ready, and no one was going to stop me," he says.