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Rylie Myers, 10, works with teacher Jill Lathrop in the Myers home. Rylie, who has aplastic anemia, received a bone marrow transplant from his 14-year-old sister in February. Northwestern photo by Joe Sienkiewicz
Sister a life-saving match for boy with aplastic anemia
By Krista B. Ledbetter
of the Northwestern
May 29, 2005 - Riley Myers said to be careful what you wish for. The Franklin Elementary School fourth-grader has been out of school since December, he’s been able to hang out with mom, watch TV. He’s even had meals prepared for him by family, friends and neighbors.
Despite what seems like a comfortable home life, Riley, 10, can’t wait to go back to school.
But if he goes now, it could be life threatening.
The Oshkosh is recovering from a bone marrow transplant for aplastic anemia, a serious condition affecting only about two in 1 million people in the United States each year. A bone marrow transplant from his 14-year-old sister on Valentine’s Day likely saved his life.
“It’s like having the rug ripped out from under you when you hear those words,” his mother, Dorene Myers, said of the December diagnosis.
The Myers family knew something was wrong when Riley began bruising easily and getting red spots on his body. They thought it was just a virus, Dorene Myers said, but when a bone punch test at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Madison revealed no bone marrow, they learned otherwise.
Jeremy Gardner, a pediatrician at Mercy Medical Center of Oshkosh, said aplastic anemia is essentially bone marrow failure. All the blood cells in a person’s body have a natural lifetime and once they die, bone marrow replaces them. Without bone marrow, he said, a person becomes anemic because the body is not producing new red blood cells, the immune system stops working without new white blood cells, and blood doesn’t clot because there are no platelets.
“For people who do not get a treatment, aplastic anemia is uniformly fatal,” Gardner said. “If the bone marrow transplant takes very well, it’s very common to be cured.”
Once Riley Myers received the diagnosis of aplastic anemia, his parents and siblings were tested for the disease and for a possible donor match. The tests showed Brittany Myers, 14, was a six-point match, the highest compatibility for a bone marrow transplant. There is a 25 percent chance for a sibling to be a perfect match.
“When the hospital called and said they had a match, I knew it would be Brittany. Those two do everything together,” Dorene Myers said. “We pulled her out of class to tell her. Riley just hugged her and said, ‘you’re a match.’”
Riley Myers was in and out of the hospital for infections and platelet transfusions before spending 33 days in the hospital for the transfusion. Chemotherapy had to be administered prior to the transfusion to kill off the bad platelets, his mother said.
“At first I was sort of worried, then I thought to myself, ‘OK, I just want to get it over with fast,’” Riley Myers said. “I’m just happy (Brittany) was a match. She saved my life.”
For Brittany Myers, the task, however daunting, was the least she could do to offer her little brother another chance.
“It was not as scary for me as it was for him,” she said, “I just waited for the outcome.”
One teaspoon at a time, bone marrow was extracted from Brittany Myers’ hip with a needle. In total, the needle was injected over 150 times. Once harvested, the bone marrow was transplanted to Riley Myers.
Following the surgery, the brother and sister shared neighboring hospital rooms to recover. Dorene Myers said the first thing Brittany Myers asked was, “is Riley ok now?”
What followed is a classic example of everything going right, Dorene Myers said.
“He never had high fevers, rashes or vomiting,” she said of symptoms often common after the transplant. “I think we just had so many people praying for us. The nurse told is this is a miracle.”
A teacher comes to the Myers’ home now daily to work with Riley until he is ready to go back to school, likely in the fall when his immune system is stronger. Dorene Myers said she is thankful for every day her son can run and play.
“He gets to spend a lot of time with mom,” she said.
He’s now taking about 25 pills per day, including an anti-rejection medication to be sure his body won’t reject Brittany Myers’ bone marrow. He’ll likely be on the medication for a year. But today Riley Myers couldn’t be better.
“I feel great now,” he said.
Krista B. Ledbetter: (920) 426-6656 or kledbetter@thenorthwestern.com
Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation Inc.
http://www.aplastic.org
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