Boy whose puppy was stolen not healthy enough yet for transplant

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/21/6 | Marisa Lagos

[SmithL]

The 8-year-old cancer patient who captured the attention of the Bay Area earlier this month when his puppy was stolen, then returned, will not be able to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant yet.

Kyle Wetle's mother, Katrina Wetle, said the family received test results today showing that the number of cancerous cells in the boy's bone marrow has decreased significantly, but still is not low enough for him to undergo the transplant.

Kyle was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia five years ago. Cures or remissions of the disease have been achieved with bone marrow transplants, and Kyle recently was scheduled for such a procedure.

However, Kyle cannot receive the transplant until the cancerous cells make up 0.1 percent of his blood. When doctors started the last round of chemotherapy, Kyle's count was at 27 percent; now it is at 0.6 percent.

Kyle's story made national news when Chemo, the Chihuahua puppy his family got to comfort him, was stolen from the parking garage at UCSF Medical Center on Sept. 2 while the boy was undergoing chemotherapy. . . .

[SmithL]

Prayers for the little guy.

[proudofthesouth]

Ditto that!