Leukemia Patient Returns Home to Fanfare

Elkhorn City, KY. turned out en mass to welcome home 10 year old Kyle Dean Smith. Smith was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Monocytic Leukemia on January 10, 2009 and was rushed to the University of Kentucky's Children's Hospital for treatment to keep him alive until a bone marrow donor could be found.

For the next month and a half, Smith's family- along with the invaluable help of Councilman Mike Taylor- held 18 different bone marrow testing drives all across Pike County, KY. and even as far as Lexington, KY. The people of the small town of Elkhorn City lined up to be tested and others came from all over the state, West Virginia, Ohio, and other states. In all, the Family and Friends of Kyle Dean Smith tested over 600 people, creating a legacy that will help patients looking for bone marrow donors for generations to come. The people of the Elkhorn City and Pikeville, KY areas helped pay for the processing of all these tests by holding bake sales and selling t-shirts which read "Fighting For Kyle".

Finally, a match for Smith was found and he was transfered for the proceedure to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. He received the transplant on May 12, 2009. This was followed by an indescribably harrowing recovery time that some patients do not survive. The doctors' were constantly impressed with Smith, however, as they said he recovered quicker and easier than most.

He was released from inpatient care in late June and was given an isolation suite at the Ronald McDonald House next door. At first, he had clinic visits three times a week to monitor his progressed. As he improved, these were dropped to twice a week.

On August 18, 2009, Smith was released from the care of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and allowed to return home. Family members decorated up his home, left gifts and cards there for him, and lined up on Patty Lovelace Boulevard with the townspeople to welcome him home. City officials met Smith and his entourage at the mouth of Beaver Creek hollow with a police escort and the fire truck. Smith and his sister therefore rode home in the fire truck in a kind of mini-parade in honor of his triumphal return home 7 months and 8 days after leaving it in the back of an ambulance.

This is a success for everyone involved in his fight- and everyone was welcome to be part of it. Photos of the mini-parade are posted with this article. Since there is a limit of how many photos one can post with an article, a slideshow will be posted in the coming days.

Smith is now in the care of the University of Kentucky's Children's Hospital as an outpatient where he will go for clinic visits for once a week until the window for possible rejection of the transplant has passed (another year and a half). Then, he will need to return to Lexington, KY. only annually.