BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT PROVED TO BE A SUCCESS.
According to Mayo Clinic, sickle cell disease affects the shape of red blood cells. These cells are usually round and flexible, so they move easily through blood vessels. In sickle cell, some red blood cells are shaped like sickles, and are rigid and sticky, which can slow or block blood flow. Since blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the rest of the body, sickle cell causes fatigue, pain, frequent infections, and vision problems, among other issues. Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects about 100,000 people in the United States
Anterria Reid gave birth to Aliyah in May 2020. Physicians diagnosed Aliyah with this disease when she was eight weeks old. Her mother, father, Nereda, and six-year old brother, Alijah, began making the trek to John’s Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg to see a hematologist. The baby had to have her blood drawn every three months, and doctors put her on a regimen of antibiotics. For two years, Aliyah would have pain that would make it necessary to rush her to an emergency room at least a couple of times a month. Cold weather would cause her to have pain crises. A simple cold could send her to the hospital. Her eyes became yellow from jaundice.
When Aliyah was two years old, Anterria watched an interview about how bone marrow transplants can heal SDC. She approached physicians about whether Aliyah should have the transplant. At the time, they rejected having the procedure done, because they said Aliyah was too healthy and didn’t have any serious complications. Most doctors were not doing the procedure if the person with SCD was living a somewhat-normal life.
Shortly afterwards, Aliyah’s spleen went into four episodes of enlarging and shrinking. When enlarged, it was at risk of bursting. At that point, doctors agreed to investigate the option of a bone marrow transplant. For a transplant, a 100-percent sibling can be a donor if they do not carry the trait, nor the disease. The test can be done using a swab from inside the cheek. The testing showed that Alijah is a 100-percent match to his sister, and he has no SCD, or sickle cell traits. The little girl also had to undergo different tests to make sure her organs were healthy enough to be approved for the procedure, and she had to have a brain scan, and electrocardiogram. Alijah also had to be tested to make sure donating wouldn’t harm his health. At 10 years old, Alijah was fearful of having his blood drawn, much less donating bone marrow.
“I wanted to help my sister,” the young man said. “I didn’t want her to have to go through sickle cell anymore. A couple of years before I did this, they talked about how I could save her life by doing this, so I said, ‘Okay, I will get tested.’ And when I found out I am a 100 percent match, then I decided, ‘I am going to do it to save her life.’”
“He was also very afraid of going under,” Anterria said. “But he loves his sister so much that he sacrificed—he had a panic attack, but he wanted to do it.”
Aliyah had to have tubes put into her chest to be given three rounds of chemotherapy in one week to completely wipe out her immune system.
After everything was cleared, medical staff completed the transfusion. They inserted a needle into each one of Alijah’s hips to draw out the marrow. The process of giving the marrow to Aliyah looked much like a normal blood transfustion. Alijah was out of school for two days, but then was able to return to his classes at the Plant City Christian Academy. “The first day was the worst—at night—I couldn’t go to sleep,” he said.
For six weeks, physicians administered another regimen of medication to Aliyah to ensure her body would not reject her brother’s bone marrow. She spent 100 days in St. Petersburg—47 days in the hospital, and the rest at Ronald McDonald House. On December 11, doctors told the family Aliyah was sickle-cell free.
Now they are back at their home. Aliyah still can’t be around many people. When she goes out in public, she still has to wear an N-95 mask. She no longer has to take four medications, but still takes seven. John’s Hopkins switched Aliyah from hematology—because her SCD disappeared—to oncology because she had chemotherapy. The girl still has to have blood drawn every three weeks for testing to verify her body isn’t rejecting her brother’s cells, and that her immune system is still getting stronger. Since the transplant, Aliyah has had 10 blood transfusions, and six platelet transfusions to counteract the fallout of her chemotherapy. “Overall she did really well,” Anterria said. “The doctors said Aliyah is one of the best cases they have seen in terms of negative side effects, and they consider the transplant successful. Once her immune system builds, she can live a normal life.” Now there is no more ongoing pain, rushing to the hospital, or yellow eyes. There is no more concern about organ damage. She gets to keep her spleen. The family is in the recovery process together. The hope is that one year post-transplant, she will no longer have to take the seven medications that remain.
“God is so good,” Anterria said. “We just want to get the story out because I have met a couple of people whose children have sickle cell—only one was aware of this treatment. It was very worth it. I know that there are a lot of parents out there who are scared about this because they hear “chemo”—because of the unknown, But knowing that we were in the hospital for 47 days, and she came out sickle cell free for the rest of her life is very worth it.”
