In response to the cordblood thread...PLEEEEEASE READ AND BUMP
Most of you know that Jake got bone marrow and not cord blood,
BUT........PLEASE HEAR THIS LOUD AND CLEAR.......
"Since its creation in 1990, the Duke Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program has transplanted over 1200 children suffering from cancer, genetic defects or blood disorders. Today, over half of these children are surviving long-term, cured of their underlying disease by their transplant. With a current waiting list of 30-40 children, and a referral base that is world-wide, the Duke Pediatric BMT Program is the largest children’s transplant program in the world, now transplanting some 100 children annually. It is a program of last resort: These children have a life expectancy of less than one year without a transplant." (From the Duke PMT website. This program uses cord blood more than bone marrow to save children from certain death)
There were 16 rooms on the Pediatric Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Unit at Duke and Jake was the only one who had a bone marrow match! The other 15 were all cord blood matches and were being saved by the kind and generous donations of cord blood from other families. Cord blood does not require an exact match like bone marrow and children who cannot find marrow donors almost can always find a close cord blood match. It is a more difficult transplant and the recovery period is longer, but it saves lives all the time. The success rate is about 80% for a successful engraftment, and then the children must survive the low immune system, the late effects of potentially fatal doses chemo, and not relapse. Like the above quote said, only children who are expected to live less than one year are given a cord blood or bone marrow transplant. Their current bone marrow most be totally abolished to the point there is not one cell that will return - that's the goal. The only thing that keeps these kids alive as they await their transplant to grow and then function is living on isolation and getting blood products (donate blood, too). The doctor told us they take the children to the edge of death and then bring them back again. Most of the time they are successful. The mantra of all the patients and staff is "Grow Cells, Grow!"
It is not for just cancer, but several types of leukodystrophies (Krabbe's disease and Hurlers syndrome to name just two), and things like severe aplastic anemia and severe sickle cell anemia. I personally know many children who would not be here today if the cord blood had not been donated.
There is info of CB donation and what it does. There are also pics of the stem cell lab, the transplant unit and the staff and faculty there. This is where Jake's life was saved.
Just a side note, had we banked Nathan's CB, they would have used it instead of the bone marrow. It is more desirable than bone marrow when it is a situation like ours when the sibling is the CB donor and it is a perfect match.
Donate it ladies, if you can.
Ok, stepping off my soap box now.
Let's bump this today for as many readers as possible. Maybe one of us will donate the cord blood that will save a little one with an otherwise fatal disease.
Last edited by khlinville : 02-27-2006 at 04:29 PM.
Reason: spelling and a bunch of other stuff
Location: Sometimes things look bad, then, poof, the moment is gone. And what do we do? We just keep swimming on.
Posts: 39,536
I wholeheartedly agree and support this cause whenever able.
I am seldom able to donate blood to the red cross or wherever, so I am always inquiring about cord blood donations. It is so tremendously valuable to the children who need it, and it's free and painless to donate. Thank you for bringing this to our attention - I will be signing up again this time.
I wholeheartedly agree and support this cause whenever able.
I am seldom able to donate blood to the red cross or wherever, so I am always inquiring about cord blood donations. It is so tremendously valuable to the children who need it, and it's free and painless to donate. Thank you for bringing this to our attention - I will be signing up again this time.
Thank You and may you have a blessed pregnany, delivery, and very healthy children! They are a gift!
This was written by a mother of a little boy who was on the unit with Jake. He is again a healthy, beautiful little boy after his CB donor saved his life.
In October 2003 Mark became very sick, vomiting and having very high fevers that medicine could not keep down. We took him to his regular pediatrician and at first thought that it was a virus. The symptoms did not go away and his breathing got worse so I took him back again and they did blood work and a chest x-ray. When he got the results he then sent us to XXX were he was admitted and was diagnosed with AML (acute myloid leukemia).The next day he had surgery to have a central line placed, lumbar puncture, bone marrow aspirate and a bronchoscopy. The next morning he was having a lot of trouble breathing so he was admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He had to be intubated because part of his lung had collapsed. He remained there for four days. He had chemotherapy treatment for 6 months. From Oct. 10, 2003 to Sept. 13, 2004 we have spent 212 days in the hospital and in clinic a lot. He finished his chemotherapy and was in remission until June 2004, we found out that the leukemia had relapsed. Mark recieved a unrelated cord blood transplant on August 11, 2004 at Duke Medical Center. He was officially engrafted on September 9, 2004. On September 17, 2004 his chimerism test showed 100% donor cells and has remained that way!!
Just a little personal testimony. I changed his name, because I didn't ask for permission to post this, but thought you would enjoy. I have more I can add when I have more time.
Check out www.trimperchildren.org All three of their children received cord blood transplants for a genetic disorder. Two have survived. We met this family briefly at Duke when they were there for follow up care.
Last edited by khlinville : 12-03-2005 at 09:20 AM.
Oh, man, I wish somebody had told me it could be donated....all I got was the info on saving it myself, and since I had not a bean to be able to even consider it, I had to let it go, which killed me, since I knew how valuable it is....And now I know somebody else could have used it!!!
Michael was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on May 24, 2004.
The treatment of this specific, rare form of ALL (B-cell ALL) is completely different than for other forms of childhood ALL.
Michael fell out of remission mid-November 2004 and we are at Duke for TWO bone marrow transplants.
Michael's first transplant was on March 8th 2005 and it was an Autologous (his own cells).
The second transplant was an unrelated Cord Blood and was June 10th 2005.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers for our brave son.
In response to the cordblood thread...PLEEEEEASE READ AND BUMP
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