Friday, August 31, 2007

Bone marrow transplant update: Conner is cured!

This is the headline on Journal and Courier (the local newspaper) today, and it sure reminds me of my job back at home! (I can't believe I am actually saying this, but I DO miss my work...)

Okay, here is a short summary of the article:

This 12 year old boy has a disease called NEMO (NFkB Essential Modifier Deficiency), and has recently undergone bone marorw transplant (BMT), and his results just came back saying that his donor cells are 100% engrafted!

*Only eight patients have been diagnosed with NEMO so far...*

Even though he is okay now, the twist of the story is that he comes from a set of triplets. This implies that his two other brothers may develop the same disease later on... so tragic...

His mummy has set up a blog. Here it is:

http://www.caringbridge.org/in/connersmith/history.htm

For those of us out there who come into contact with BMT patients (yes, you know who you are), you will be able to relate to many parts of this blog... Do read it! :) Very inspiring...

***

One of my all time favourite books is Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper", which runs along similar threads to the article above... Okay, I am too lazy to tell the story, so here is the synopsis of the book. Read it too!!!

"Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life… even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less?"




2 comments:

XT said...

Sounds like Anna's gonna inflict harm/kill herself so as to escape from playing the role she was made for...
This synopsis makes me think of how we all play roles in each others' lives, and sometimes we are so attached to a particular role that it has formed our identity--without it we would feel lost. However all of us, even Anna, can also choose what we really want as our inner awareness increases over time.

sotsh said...

i read this book before! it's really touching!