Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

Stem Cell Research Produces Another Miracle of Adult Stem Cells

Here is another miracle story in which stem cell research using Adult Stem Cells played the star role.  Kim Case, a woman from Gaston, Oregon was given little hope to live after being diagnosed with NK T-cell Lymphoma.  In fact, Kim was the first caucasian in the United States to have had this deadly form of Lymphoma.

Chemotherapy Ineffective Against Lymphoma

Kim went through radiation treatments and 3 rounds of chemotherapy.  All were ineffective against the lymphoma. Her only hope was adult stem cells from a matching donor.

Lucky to Find Match for Adult Stem Cell Transplant

Kim was very lucky in this regard.  She found a matching donor within one week.  Normally it takes 6 months to a year to find a donor and many lymphoma patients die waiting for the right match.  Kim's hero was Doug Cokinis a 42 year old male with matching adult stem cells.

From the stem cell article:

After another chemotherapy session, the stem cell transplant took place in October 2004.

It took about a month before Kim re-gained some strength.

"It was a gradual, slow process," she said. "I had to walk three or four times around my room without stopping before being allowed to leave the hospital."

Able to leave the hospital after 52 days, Kim stayed in Seattle to go back in for occasional tests.

"They gave her a list of things she'd have problems with for the rest of her life," Jay said.

So, the short period of time after that was nothing short of remarkable.

She was able to return home in February 2005, cancer free. She regularly had blood draws to make sure the cancer had not returned.

By June 2005, she was able to stop taking medication for side effects from cancer. She hasn't taken any medication since then – something unheard of in cancer patients.

How to Become A Stem Cell Transplant Donor

Kim had something to say to everyone  about being possible donors at the Red Cross--
"It's an easy process," Kim said. "They take blood to test for diseases. Once that's clear, they put you on a list. Once they find a match, they give you shots to take for the cells to reproduce at a faster rate ... most don't know what to an adult stem cell transplant is, it's not like a bone marrow transplant."

Considering all that had happened to her, Kim took no time in answering whether or not she thought her experience was, in fact, a miracle.

"One hundred percent miracle," she said.
Here is another stem cell success story and information on how you can possibly save a life by giving the greatest gift of all- the gift of life.

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

Since this is the holiday season, we are all in the spirit of giving.  What can be a better gift to give than  to give somebody life?  That is what we all can possibly do if we become a bone marrow donor.

Most often it is Leukemia and Lymphoma patients who are in need of a stem cell bone marrow transplant to save their life.  Take for example the case of  Joel Carter :

Carter, 56, said he would not have lived to see his grandson's birth on April 5 this year if it were not for a far-away donor who gave him a second chance at life through a blood stem cell transplant. The gift also spared his parents from losing a second son; Carter's brother died of a brain tumor in 1975 at age 28.

He learned he had acute myleogenus leukemia after struggling to recover from a bronchial infection. His only hope to survive was a stem cell transplant from a matching donor.  Luckily, they found a match for him.  Many are not so lucky.

In a letter, Carter told his donor what her gift meant to him.

"It meant that my father didn't have to bury his other son. It meant that my son didn't lose his father in the prime of life," said Carter, of Grand Rapids. "And it meant that this child would grow up to know me through a relationship and not just through pictures."

Imagine if you were the one reading that letter from Mr. Carter.  Like Toyota, "Oh what a feeling!"

"The important thing to know is once they get to the transplant point in their disease, that's their only hope," said Mary Banfill, stem cell laboratory supervisor. "If they don't do the transplant, it's going to be fatal."

The economy is down.  We are all struggling a little financially.  However, one thing we can always give is a little bit of our time.  If you are reading this blog, most likely, you are able to help.  Go to www.marrow.org - the National Marrow Donor Program and they will give you information on how you may be able to save somebody's life-  and you will get a life long friend in the process and the good feeling of knowing you helped somebody.

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

It's a celebration! Everyone around the world come on! Over the weekend, in the Atlanta area, 200 stem cell transplant recipients and some of their stem cell donors met at a big party to celebrate life.

Just the fact that these people were able to attend this function was a miracle in itself and most of them were on death's door and would not be alive except for the fact that they each had an unselfish bone marrow donor giving them the stem cells that would save their life:

In 2001, Troy Ford was on death's door with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer.

In three weeks, he's competing in an Ironman triathlon.

Ford, now 39 and cancer free, got a life-saving bone marrow transplant at Northside Hospital, making him one of about 150 people yearly who endure the lengthy and painful procedure at the north Fulton County hospital.

“Seeing all these people is great, Ford said Saturday as he joined about 200 bone marrow recipients at a gala luncheon Northside threw to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.

“This is truly awesome, said Thomas Burt, 62, of Dawsonville, who was diagnosed with myofibrosis in 2005 and got a bone marrow transplant the following year. Last summer, Burt and his wife, Laura, drove to Ocala, Fla., to meet his donor, Michelle Pearson. She sat next to the Burts at Saturday's lunch, at which attendees dined on grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and grilled mixed vegetables.

“This is wonderful. It's really a great event, said Pearson, who keeps tabs on Burt every few weeks through e-mails and phone calls. “He's my blood brother.

On the way home Saturday evening, Ford's mind wandered back to the half-dozen doctors who attended the event.

“What these guys are doing, that's the real story, he said. “They're not curing colds. They're saving lives.

What are you waiting for? Go to www.marrow.org now and register and perhaps save a life. It could really help someone in desperate need and may be the nicest gift you can ever give someone- the gift of life.

Click here to see the whole happy article

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

This is great news for Hodgkin's sufferers.  A trial has been published in the Annals of Oncology that shows adult stem cell treatment is an effective way to treat Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Researchers from the Royal Marsden Hospital recently reported long-term data including 195 patients with recurrent Hodgkin's lymphoma who received an autologous stem cell transplant between 1985 and 2005.  

• 61% of patients achieved a complete disappearance of cancer.


• Median survival was nine years.


• Median progression-free survival was three years.


• Five- and 10-year overall survivals were 55% and 49%, respectively.


• 10% of patients developed a second cancer, the most of which were acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes.


• Mortality caused by treatment occurred in 6% of patients.

The researchers concluded that an autologous stem cell transplant provides an effective long-term therapeutic option for patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma that has stopped responding to prior therapies. Patients with recurrent Hodgkin's lymphoma may wish to speak with their physician about their individual risks and benefits of an autologous stem cell transplant.

If you or someone you know has Hodgkin's Lymphoma, you may wish to contact Dr. Shimon Slavin in Israel as he may have a stem cell treatment for you.  Dr. Slavin's email address is slavinmd@gmail.com

Or you can click here to read more about the successful trial for Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Are you or a loved one interested in receiving stem cell treatment? For free treatment information, please fill out our treatment form or email me don@repairstemcells.org and just put TREATMENT in the subject box.

Regular readers of this blog know that stem cells are helping and have been helping leukemia patients for more than 20 years.  So why do we still read about deaths due to leukemia?  There are obviously multiple answers to that question.  However, one problem is a lack of bone marrow donors.  You see, to cure a leukemia patient, he/she will need a perfect match of bone marrow (stem cells) from a donor so the patient's body will not reject the stem cell transplant.  This perfect match sometimes comes from the patient's family, but often this is not the case.  Therefore, in most countries, there is a bone marrow donor registry program in which an organization tries to match up donors with people suffering from leukemia or lymphoma or other life threatening diseases that can be treated by stem cells.  In America, you can find more information on how to become a possible donor at http://www.marrow.org

Here is a little more information from that website:

Bone marrow transplant is a life-saving treatment for people with leukemia, lymphoma and many other diseases. First, patients undergo chemotherapy and sometimes radiation to destroy their diseased marrow. Then a donor's healthy blood-forming cells are given directly into the patient's bloodstream, where they can begin to function and multiply.

In order for a patient's body to accept these healthy cells, the donor's tissue type needs to match the patient's type as closely as possible. Patients who do not have a suitably matched donor in their family may search the NMDP Registry for an unrelated bone marrow donor or cord blood unit.

Here is a wonderful example of how by joining the bone marrow registry, you can save someone's life and make a life long friend:

Wicker, 33, discovered symptoms of leukemia in August 2002 when he felt fatigued trying to climb Mount St. Helens in Washington with some friends.

From there, it got worse.

"I went from what I thought was totally normal to not being able to walk up a set of stairs without my heart popping out of my chest," he said.

After his diagnosis the next month, Wicker traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for chemotherapy while waiting for a bone marrow match, thinking one would not prove too difficult to find. Instead, he received treatment every other month and found himself waiting.

Friends and co-workers participated in bone marrow blood drives but yielded no matches.

"It felt like a long time -- it was getting to the point where we were talking about the quality of life," Wicker said. "Without the transplant, I wasn't going to live."

Wicker received good news in March 2003 -- he had a match, and the transplant would take place April 3.

Click here to read the happy ending to this story


 And then click here to find out how you can join the registry and be a life long hero