On the day after my blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) at Roswell Park in March 2016, I wrote a thank you card to my donor. “Dear donor…. With sincerest thanks, Recipient.”
BMT
Since allogeneic transplants are not performed in London, Ontario, my doctor, Dr. Xenacostas, recommended that I go to Roswell Park. Roswell Park has a stellar reputation, so I was grateful, as a Canadian patient, to have the opportunity of getting a BMT there.
I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (AML) in August 2014. Two weeks later I found out that I would need a blood and marrow transplant (BMT), but I did not match with anyone on the BMT registry. My youngest daughter Kelly was my only hope for a BMT match.
When Ian Cherico was rushed to the hospital, he was in a fight for his life. “Minutes later and I could have died,” he says. Ian was only 17 years old at the time, and his body was shutting down. It all started with a headache he couldn’t shake.
One year ago, my husband, Roman, was hospitalized at Roswell Park in Buffalo, NY for a stem cell transplant. As Canadians, when we first learned of the opportunity to have BMT at Roswell Park, we had no idea of what lay ahead.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new indication for the oral drug lenalidomide (brand name Revlimid) as a maintenance therapy for multiple myeloma patients following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (ASCT), also known as autologous blood and marrow transplant (BMT).
“There he is – there’s my brother!” says Phil Richiuso, spotting the #18 FC Dallas jersey during a Major League Soccer game on TV. Richiuso doesn’t know much about professional soccer. And #18, goalkeeper Chris Seitz, isn’t really related to the 57-year-old man from Erie, PA.