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A few words from Seth's dad about the work Anthony Nolan does and the impact they had on his family

 

In April 2008 Seth was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The day after he was diagnosed he started 6 months of Chemotherapy. He was two years old. During his treatment his Consultants carried out tests on the cancer to give an indication about how well the Chemotherapy was likely to work. Unfortunately the results were not good, the Chemotherapy was unlikely to be effective and he needed a stem cell (bone marrow) transplant to give him the best chance of a cure.  

Every one of us has billons of stem cells in the bone marrow inside our bones. These cells which produce all the blood in our body throughout our lives. The transplant aims to remove all of these cells, including the ones which are cancerous and replace them with new stem cells from a closely matching donor. The hospital searched databases worldwide for a donor, they were pretty hopeful that one would be found, however none were.  So without a donor Seth just had the Chemo to rely on.  

At the end of treatment initially the signs were good and we hoped he had got away with the slim chance he was given of the Chemotherapy working.  Sadly in January 2009 his cancer relapsed. He started more Chemotherapy and more searching of databases took place, no living donors had become available but thankfully the Anthony Nolan Trust found a lifeline for him. The stem cells from the umbilical cord of a baby born in Germany were a good enough match for him to have a transplant. The chemotherapy continued for a few more months, ending with a final dose which killed off all of his stem cells and with them we hope the cancer forever. 

 

On April the 19th 2009 23ml of blood rich with stem cells, were transplanted into him. This is a difficult point in the transplant process, the chemo had left him very unwell and with none of his own stems cells left to make blood, he relied upon daily blood transfusions for weeks to keep him alive. Eventually we started to see signs of the new stem cells beginning to work, but as they did a common side effect of the transplant also started, Graft vs. Host Disease. His new blood saw his body as a foreign object and began to attack it as if it was a virus. This caused the most horrendous pain, prevented him from eating and damaged his lungs, liver and gut.  He had IV morphine to manage the pain and was fed through a tube into his tummy and IV line for months.  

Very slowly he began to get better and after months in hospital was allowed home.  A year after the transplant he was still unwell, but he finally stopped being fed through the tube and was strong enough to go to playschool again. He has continued to recover and in September this year started school. He still has a few side effects and the time in hospital has left him a little shy compared to other children, but other than that he is a normal, happy little boy. 

If it were not for the kindness of a mother donating her babies umbilical cord and the Anthony Nolan Trust Seth would not be here today. Today there are over 2000 people in the UK who like Seth cannot find a donor. To help these people it's easy to join the register of donors, all it takes is a sample of spit and if you are lucky enough to be given the chance of saving someone's life through donating, it's as easy as giving blood.   

So please dig deep and donate now.