Category Archives: Stem Cell Transplant

LIBERTY, MO (KCTV) - Jerry Bayton is a Kansas City, MO, firefighter. He's alsoa very lucky man. In need of a stem cell transplant, Bayton is heading to New York,ready to receive stem cells provided by his brother and fellow KCMO firefighter,Gary. "It's put a lot of things for me into perspective," Gary Bayton said. "It's easy for someone to say,just give yourself some shots, you're gonna feel bad. Go to New York, draw it out, and you're all done." Easy to say, but not so easy to do, Gary Bayton discovered. "When I stared on the self-injections, it was immediate, it was painful, it wore me out, and it put into perspective for me of some of what he was going through," he told KCTV5 News. Jerry Bayton was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in June 2013, and has been battling the terrible disease for some time now. While fighting cancer, his family has been struggling to make ends meet, making this an even tougher fight against the disease, andthe medical bills the disease is racking up. "It's been difficult, but it's galvanized my family. It's changed my perspective on a lot of things. I don't sweat the little things … Continue reading →

A Vietnamese girl adopted by a Swiss family underwent a stem cell transplant last Friday, months after she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Joon Gremillet, 18, is under special care at the Geneva General Hospital with visits restricted to protect her from infections, given that her immune system drops close to zero, according to a post on the blog site Help Joon, which was opened to look for a matching donor by her adoptive father Patrick Gremillet, a senior program coordinator at the United Nations Development Program. Patrick received Joon from a maternity hospital in Hai Phong in northern Vietnam and she has grown up with the family, traveling through Laos, Thailand, US, Austria and France. Joon, who started her university studies last year in Geneva, was diagnosed with leukemia last May. She was hospitalized immediately and received chemotherapy before the search began for a bone marrow donor that considerably increases chances of survival. The father said a donor was a stressful issue as Joon was adopted and there was little chance of finding a matching donor in her current community. He said there are also few Asians, and Vietnamese in particular, who are enrolled in the international stem … Continue reading →

Hagop Semerjian is a picture of good health. PHOTO COURTESY OF HEIDI RAKER GOLDSTEIN Hagop 'Jack' Semerjian, far right, with his family at Semerjian Shoes in Westwood. Originally from Syria, the family came to the United States in the mid 2000s so Jack could get a stem cell transplant to cure him of a rare immune disorder. The family eventually settled in Westwood where they made a home and started their family business. From left: Karni, Onnig, the owner, Ani and Hagop Semerjian. While standing slightly shorter than the average 18-year-old boy, his father, Onnig, who is the owner of Westwood's Semerjian Shoes on Center Avenue, says he still has some growing to do. Last month, he finished his last round of medications, which included antibiotics that he had been taking all of his life to combat a rare hereditary immune disorder that left him sick for most of his childhood. "It's surreal," he says of no longer having to take medication. "I've been on it so long. I used to always go to the hospital..." Hagop, whom his peers call Jack, pulls his hood back upon entering the store, fashioned with modernized-style dcor, on the rainy afternoon of Dec. … Continue reading →

RIDGEWOOD Its been almost two months since Ed Schwartz learned he has an aggressive form of blood cancer that could kill him. The 46-year-old environmentalist from Ridgewood needs a stem cell transplant to elevate his chances of surviving his acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis from 15- to 60-percent. Temple Beth Israel on Grove Street will host a donor drive on Sunday, aimed at finding possible matches for Schwartz, who has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments since learning of his cancer. Acute myeloid leukemia is a cancer that attacks the blood-forming tissue of the bone marrow. During the donor drive, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., healthy people ages 18 to 44 will undergo a cheek swab. Volunteers must be willing to donate to any patient. Theres a catch, though: An Ashkenazi Jewish man, Schwartz needs to find a match who is also of Russian, Hungarian and Polish decent. Thats very specific, but we recently learned that out of the 22 million on the donor registry, theres not a single match for me, Schwartz said. People have been so supportive these last two months, and Im just hoping we get a good turnout, he added, because the more donors you get, … Continue reading →

Four year old Hannah Day has spent most of her young life in and out of hospital. She has Leukemia and its the second time in as many years that she is battling cancer. She underwent 15 months of chemotherapy for a tumour in her stomach, but weeks later was diagnosed with Leukemia. Hannahs family says her only hope for survival is a stem-cell transplant, but neither her sister nor her parents are a perfect match, so theyre hoping a donor will be found. They set up a web page called Angels for Hannah to try and find a donor. A stem-cell transplant is her last chance. To become a stem-cell donor you can fill out a questionnaire online if youre between the ages of 17 and 35, and youll be sent a kit in the mail. A swab of your cheeks will reveal if youre a suitable donor. Once identified as a match, donors will undergo one of two procedures. Stem cells can be harvested from bone marrow under general anesthetic, or throughperipheral blood stem cell donation. The donor does not experience pain during either procedure. Our age criteria is 17 to 35 to register, saysMary Lynn Pride from … Continue reading →

Please note: An erratum has been published for this article. To view the erratum, please click here. Clare A. Dykewicz, M.D., M.P.H. Harold W. Jaffe, M.D., Director Division of AIDS, STD, and TB Laboratory Research National Center for Infectious Diseases Jonathan E. Kaplan, M.D. Division of AIDS, STD, and TB Laboratory Research National Center for Infectious Diseases Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention --- Surveillance and Epidemiology National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention Clare A. Dykewicz, M.D., M.P.H., Chair Harold W. Jaffe, M.D. Thomas J. Spira, M.D. Division of AIDS, STD, and TB Laboratory Research William R. Jarvis, M.D. Hospital Infections Program National Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC Jonathan E. Kaplan, M.D. Division of AIDS, STD, and TB Laboratory Research National Center for Infectious Diseases Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention --- Surveillance and Epidemiology National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC Brian R. Edlin, M.D. Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention---Surveillance and Epidemiology National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC Robert T. Chen, M.D., M.A. Beth Hibbs, R.N., M.P.H. Epidemiology and Surveillance Division National Immunization Program, CDC Raleigh A. Bowden, M.D. Keith Sullivan, M.D. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle, Washington David Emanuel, M.B.Ch.B. Indiana University Indianapolis, Indiana See … Continue reading →

In 2013, doctors nationwide diagnosed 49,000 people with Leukemia. This past April, Cathy Habeeb Sheehan, of Boxford, was one of them. Last June, she had a sibling stem cell transplant. However, it failed and her only other brother is not a match. Currently, there is no donor match in the National Register. She is in need of a second stem cell transplant. Latitude Sports Club in Methuen is hosting a stem cell donor drive in January. Her friends and family are asking for people to volunteer to be tested as a possible donor match. Sheehan is a mother of two daughters and a son. In her spare time, shes a spin instructor at Latitude Sports Club in Salisbury. In the past Latitude has helped Sheehan with other stem cell donor drives but no match was found. The family is beside themselves, family friend Ruth Ann LeHane said. LeHane has worked for Sheehans mother for more than 30 years. The ideal match for Sheehan is someone in between 18 and 44 years old and is in good health. To find out if you are a match for Sheehan is simple says LeHane. It just takes a swab inside your cheek, she … Continue reading →

Sam Shockey had been eagerly waiting to celebrate the holiday season with his family and to watch the excitement on his two young sons faces as they open presents on Christmas morning. But in early December he was diagnosed with Acute NK Leukemia a rare, aggressive and recurrent form of cancer, and he spent Christmas in the hospital clinging to life. Shockey, a Mason resident, is in dire need of a stem cell transplant; he could die without it, his wife Kimber Shockey said, adding that they are looking for a donor. We knew this was pretty severe, very serious, she said. He made videos to leave for the kids, so they would remember his voice, and we got our affairs in order. Still, the family has not given up hope; efforts are underway to find a donor. Kimber Shockey is helping organize a Be The Match event today in hopes of finding a donor for her husband and others who have a similar illness. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Trenton Fishing Club, 225 Potter Ave., Trenton. Anyone who attends can have the inside of their cheeks swabbed and entered into a … Continue reading →

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 Last updated: Thursday December 26, 2013, 4:36 PM RIDGEWOOD A donor registration drive for a 22-year-old village resident battling Hodgkins lymphoma attracted more than 500 people on Saturday. Patrice Foresman of Montvales Community Blood Services said it was one of the most successful drives in which she has ever participated. The four-hour drive, which was held in Village Hall, had to be extended an hour to accommodate everyone. The purpose was to find a match for Anthony Daniels, who was diagnosed at age 20 and has twice been in remission. It was a sweeping success, due to the tireless efforts of the Daniels family and all the volunteers who wanted to be part of something really important, Foresman said Monday after shipping the samples to Minnesota for analysis. Hodgkins lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system that attacks white blood cells. Daniels needs a bone marrow stem-cell transplant a procedure he described as a last resort. In six weeks, the Daniels family should know if Saturdays drive yielded a potential donor for Anthony. Its also possible that one of the donors proves a match for some other patient needing a marrow transplant. Every four minutes, … Continue reading →

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - This Christmas will be extra special for one Midstate family, and there's something you can easily do to help families just like this one. Makayla Claussen has been fighting a life-threatening immune disorder for most of the past year, and we are very happy to report she's making great progress. "It's amazing what prayer and support can do. It helped me get through everything," Claussen said. For nine months, she has been fighting HLH and T-cell lymphoma. When we first met her last summer, doctors hoped chemotherapy would do the trick. But she wasn't getting better, and late in August had to undergo a stem cell transplant. Since then, she's been in and out of the hospital a few times but overall is making great progress. "No disease, no infection, no bacteria. Nothing has been found on any of my PET scans. Everything is looking great," Claussen said. She recently celebrated another milestone and was able to go out in public again. "It's like graduating high school and going to college," she said. "You get your freedom back." Original post: Student improving after stem cell transplant for lymphoma … Continue reading →