{"id":16255,"date":"2020-10-14T16:53:25","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T16:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sc101.org\/?p=16255"},"modified":"2020-10-14T16:53:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T16:53:25","slug":"no-regrets-my-bone-marrow-transplant-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sc101.org\/no-regrets-my-bone-marrow-transplant-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"No Regrets\u2013 My Bone Marrow Transplant Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"
Interview with Teonna Woolford<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2010, I was 18 and had overcome so many obstacles and faced so many complications related to sickle cell. My hematologist told me he thought it was time or me to consider a bone marrow transplant. Ideally, he wanted me to have a perfect matched donor for the transplant. I went on the national registry and when I didn\u2019t have a match, my mother started hearing about a clinical trial at Hopkins where they were using half matched donors.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t eligible for the standard BMT. What\u2019s so promising and attractive about a haplo Transplant is that most patients have a parent or sibling who they can go to for the marrow donation. Knowing that this was experimental, I was pretty scared but hopeful and excited about the chance at a better quality of life.<\/p>\n My mother was my half matched donor.<\/p>\n It was a difficult decision. At the time, I felt that sickle cell was hindering me from living the life I wanted to live. I made the decision out of desperation. I was nervous about the side effects of the chemotherapy, mainly the risk of infertility, but I wasn\u2019t really afraid of rejecting the transplant because truly believed it was my time for a cure. I had a lot of conversations with my family and my hematologist. Collectively, we decided to go for it.<\/p>\n I was in the hospital for 30 days after the transplant. For the next three months I had to stay within five miles of the hospital due to the high risk of infection. I had to go in for blood work three times a week. I couldn’t really go anywhere besides the doctor’s office and my little apartment. It was really important that I had a caretaker with me at all times.<\/p>\n About three months after the transplant, I started having really high fevers and chills. When my fever broke weeks later, my doctor informed me that I had a virus called CMV and my bone marrow had completely shut down. For three months I wasn’t producing any red blood cells. I was getting blood and platelet transfusion around the clock but my body was rejecting it. It was scared about what might happen to me.<\/p>\n After weighing out options, I was told that I needed to try the whole process again and have my mom donate more bone marrow. In my mind, that was the cause of all the chaos, so I refused to go through it a second time. Thankfully three months later, my bone marrow slowly began to recover on its own.<\/p>\n Today, I still deal with some issues from the transplant. I have been told I’m infertile and at random times my platelets counts drop low. That can be scary because I\u2019m at risk for hemorrhaging. This happens as a result of my bone marrow being damaged from chemotherapy. Since then, I\u2019ve been encouraged to try the transplant again but, mentally I just can’t get there.<\/p>\nHow did you first learn about this BMT study that could potentially cure your SCD?<\/h3>\n
What was it like to find out you were eligible for a BMT?<\/h3>\n
What type of BMT were you eligible for? Who was your match?<\/h3>\n
How did you make the decision to determine you were going to participate in this study?<\/h3>\n
What happened in the months following the procedure?<\/h3>\n
When did you realize the BMT had failed? What symptoms did you have?<\/h3>\n
What\u2019s life like today after surgery in regards to your health?<\/h3>\n