He was still waiting to hear back from a job interview, so I assumed it was about that and I got really excited, she says. I tried to ring a few times, and eventually I got through over quite a patchy line. He said, 'I think Ive got leukaemia. When you hear those words, you know how serious it is. I just told him, 'Im going to get home as quickly as I can. The news that followed was devastating. Mike, 29, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and is currently undergoing intense chemotherapy six times a week at Bristol Royal Infirmary. Such is the severity of his condition that doctors have said he needs a stem-cell transplant to save his life and time is running out. As has been widely reported this week, his family, who live in Somerset, have only until the start of July, when his chemotherapy course ends, to find a suitable donor. Normally a third of people requiring the operation are able to find a sibling match. All of his three brothers have already been tested, but none has been successful. He and his loved ones are now searching the Anthony Nolan stemcell donor register … Continue reading →

CHANDLER, AZ - Raising two young boys is no easy task for Sabrina Conger. She describes it best as chaotic, but in a good way. Chaos in the morning, laughed Conger. My son doesn't want to wake up in the morning. I gotta drag him out of bed!. Every morning gets tougher for Sabrina. You may not see it on the outside, but on the inside, she's battling systemic scleroderma. It's an autoimmune disease that causes an excessive amount of scar tissue to spread on the inside of her body, affecting her lungs, heart, and blood circulation, leading to ulcers that turn her fingers blue. "Doing simple things like washing dishes, or doing laundry or giving my kids a bath, little things we do like that every day is complicated, said Conger. But she has hope, since shes been approved for a stem cell transplant procedure that would essentially give her a new immune system.. Once they harvest my immature stem cells, then I'll go to five to six days of chemotherapy, that will basically diminish, deplete, any sign of my old immune system, said Conger. Her health insurance will take care of a majority of the procedure, but Sabrina … Continue reading →