Leukemia Patient Battles Through Transplant Aftermath

Kyle Dean Smith, a 10 year old who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Monocytic Leukemia in January 2009, received a bone marrow transplant on May 12, 2009. Without the transplant he would certainly have suffered an extremely painful death. With it he has a chance at life.

The transplant itself was a very simple proceedure that has more in common with an infusion. The donor cells were hand-carried via helicopter to Cincinnati Children's Hospital the moment they were extracted from the donor. Once at the hospital, the cells were cleaned and infused into Smith through his port in much the same manner as one would receive fluids. The infusion took about an hour and a half.

However, the month following was a nightmare that defies description. Smith's family were contantly assurred by hospital staff that eveything was par the course and that Smith was doing much better than most. The doctors have everything timed almost precisely to the day and would inform the family of what to expect. This was reassuring, but the experience remained one of the most frightening one could imagine.

At first, Smith would sleep all the time. Light hurt his eyes and noise- even laughter- was painful. He stopped playing video games and began complaining of dizzyness. He stopped watching TV and would merely listen to it instead. Then he could not tolerate even soft music.

The chemotherapy that had been required to kill his bone marrow cells in preparation for the transplant had burned the lining of his entire digestive system so severely that it peeled off. The pain was excruciating. His mouth and cheeks swelled to the point that he looked like a chipmunk with its jawls full. He could not swallow to take medicine or eat or drink. He couldn't speak and developed a language of gestures and moans. All nutrition and medication were thus administered through his port.

He began to expell the damaged lining and therefore coughed up and vomited blood and tissue for two weeks. Sometimes, this process was so painful that he would scream and scream and there was nothing to be done but to hold him and cry with him.

Working out the right amount and kinds of pain medication was a challenge, since these had a tendency to slow his breathing almost to a stop. The medication gave him horrible nightmares when asleep and hallucinations when awake. No matter what they tried he would still writhe in misery.

Smih became so weak that he could not stand at all without assistance. Without it he would collapse right next to his bed. Changing his linen, which his family were told to do every day, was a daunting task. Eventually, Smith was expelling blood from his mouth, nose, and rectum all at once.

One day, a child on the same floor died. He was convinced that he too was dying. At the worst point, his little body became so stressed by the pain that he flatlined and nurses guarded him for hours afterwards.

After those awful two weeks of torture, his new cells began mercifully to take. At first there was little change, but as the third week progressed, his exhausted body finally began to heal. The swelling of his face disappeared and his color returned. He continues to cough up thick mucus and bile, but no longer any blood. He is watching TV and playing video games and his white cell count is up to normal ranges. It is expected to stabilise around 12,300.

Smith is still very weak and dizzy, but was able to sit up in a wheelchair by his bedside for five minutes. He is drinking juice again and looking forward to starting on soft foods. When he is strong enough, he will be allowed to leave his room as long as he wears a face mask. If he continues progressing at this rate, he may be released from the hospital in a week.

Smith will still be required to visit the clinic in the hospital three times a week for some months, hence he will remain in the Cincinnati area. It will be two years before all possibility of rejection is passed. He will also have to receive all his immunisations again.