Category Archives: Stem Cell Transplant

Sue Walters only chance of survival from leukaemiawas a stem cell transplant No one in her family matched her tissue type Doctors searched the worldwide donor register They found Nicola Gerber, a student from Mechern, near the French border By Chloe Lambert for the Daily Mail Published: 20:21 EST, 17 November 2014 | Updated: 04:28 EST, 18 November 2014 468 shares 17 View comments When Sue Walters was diagnosed with leukaemia, she hoped that the best of medical science would be used to cure it. What she could never have anticipated was that her life would be saved by an 18-year-old boy from a remote German village. Sues only chance of survival was a stem cell transplant previously known as a bone marrow transplant. What Nicola has done is amazing it really is a gift of life. If I hadnt had the transplant, it was unlikely Id have lived beyond three months,' said Sue Walters of her donor Nicola Gerber More here: Donor: The German teenager who saved my life … Continue reading →

Day +5 I am on day +5 of a stem cell transplant. I began 11/3/2014 with day -7. Received "BEAM" chemo days -6 to -2. Day -1 was rest. Day 0 (zero) was the actual stem cell transplant. I received back... By: Robert Baxter … Continue reading →

There are 3 possible sources of stem cells to use for transplants: Bone marrow is the spongy tissue in the center of some bones. Its main job is to make blood cells that circulate in your body, which includes immune cells that recognize invaders and fight infection. Bone marrow has a rich supply of stem cells. The bones of the pelvis (hip) contain the most marrow and have large numbers of stem cells in them. For this reason, cells from the pelvic bone are used most often for a bone marrow transplant. Enough marrow must be removed to collect a large number of healthy stem cells. When the bone marrow is removed (harvested), the donor gets general anesthesia (drugs are used to put the patient into a deep sleep so they dont feel pain). A large needle is put through the skin and into the back of the hip bone. The thick liquid marrow is pulled out through the needle. This is repeated several times until enough marrow has been taken out or harvested. (For more on this, see the section called Whats it like to donate stem cells?) The harvested marrow is filtered, stored in a special solution in … Continue reading →

Day ZERO: stem cell transplant Today is the day I receive my stem cells. It is called "day zero." I was admitted to the hospital on 11/3/2014 and began "BEAM chemotherapy" on 11/4/2014. Th... By: Robert Baxter … Continue reading →

Stem cell transplant: CHECK! By: Carolyn Van … Continue reading →

11/12/2014 . There was good news from the Def Leppard camp on Tuesday as guitarist Vivian Campbell announced that he is home and recuperating from stem cell transplant treatment that he underwent in his cancer fight. Campbell wrote to fans on Tuesday via his Facebook page, "Home... So glad that's over. Time to recover/recuperate and grow some hair. Thanks for all the love you've sent - much appreciated! Normal service will be resumed shortly." Prior to the treatment, Vivian wrote the following message to fans on September 29th on his Facebook page, "As many of you know, I've been scheduled to start a stem cell transplant and as soon as I got home from tour I began the necessary tests and preparations. I'll be admitted to hospital soon for all the yucky bits, so in the meantime I'm headed to Target to stock up on cozy pajamas, fresh underwear, and a sackful of car-porn." He continued, "While I can't say that I'm looking forward to the process ahead, I'm very much looking forward to what I feel will be a most successful outcome. Next year will be very busy for Def Leppard with a new album and a world tour, … Continue reading →

Sabah becomes third to provide bone marrow transplant KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Women and Children's Hospital in Likas became the third government hospital in the country to provide bone marrow transplant after General Hospital Kuala Lumpur (GHKL) and Ampang Hospital. State Health Director Dr Christina Rundi (pic) said, Tuesday, the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit is housed on the 7th Floor of the Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Centre of the hospital. At the official handover of the hospital to the State Health Department in April, last year, she mentioned that bone marrow transplant (also called stem cell transplant) would be possible in Sabah in the near future. "Since then, we have made the necessary preparations to set up the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. Our nurses went for training at the Ampang Hospital in Kuala Lumpur while we procured the equipment such as stem cell processor and blood irradiator. "We are fortunate to have the services of Paediatric Haemato-Oncologist, Dr Asohan Thevarajah who reported for work in July. "And on Oct. 31, our dream came true when the Sabah Women and Children's Hospital performed the first bone marrow transplant on a 12-year-old leukaemic girl from Tuaran," she confirmed, when contacted. The stem … Continue reading →

The National Transplant Organization (ONT) and the Spanish Hematology and Hemotherapy Society (SEHH) have launched a joint project to see if the HIV virus can be eliminated by carrying out stem cell transplants on patients who also suffer from cancers of the blood or bone marrow. The idea is to improve the study of the method that has so far led to the only known case of someone being cured of HIV: Timothy Ray Brown, a US citizen known to the medical world as The Berlin Patient, who has been free of the virus for four years following a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, despite being off antiretroviral medication. ONT director Rafael Matesanz said they would search Spanish umbilical cord banks for high-quality samples with a mutation in a receptor called CCR5 delta32. This protein is one of the locks that HIV picks open in order to infect the lymphocites, explained Javier Martnez of IrsiCaixa, a center specializing in HIV treatment. Its the same thing that was done with the Berlin Patient. In September 2013, a 37-year-old Barcelona man submitted to the same experimental treatment, said Rafael Duarte, director of the Hematopoietic Transplant Program at the Catalan Cancer Institute. This patient … Continue reading →

Day minus 4 Stem cell transplant countdown continues. I'm on day -4. Day -1 will be a day of "rest," and day zero is the actual stem cell infusion. I've been feeling wel... By: Robert Baxter … Continue reading →

Swab Squad | Stem Cell Transplantation: It Takes Two 70% of blood cancer patients in need of a life-saving stem cell transplant never find the donor they need. Learn about how easy it can be to join Be The Match and donate stem cells to a blood... By: OKC GOOD … Continue reading →