Posted on 12/24/2004 10:05:49 PM PST by Coleus
I read the whole long article and it is so good. I forwarded it to friends and family. What a wonderful touching story and a great HAPPY ending!
A friend of mine (Eileen), had breast cancer, was operated on, seemed fine, but it came back. She ended up having her own bone marrow replanted in herself...long experimental procedure she learned she was eligible for on the internet! This was after her own doctor had said there was nothing they could do until the cancer turned up in her lymph system...by then she'd be 'terminal'. She used the internet, found out about this procedure, and it saved her life. Another friend came down with lung cancer and I passed on the story about Eileen, so this second friend got a computer and went online and did her own research. There are resources out here now that we could only dream of a short time ago. This second friend beat her lung cancer, too. Merry Christmas, all!!
BTW..whenthey make the movie..which they will..who will play the two?
What a great story! Merry Christmas and thank you for posting this!
Owl_Eagle
Guns Before Butter.
I'm in the registry. I had no choice as the man literally pleaded with me to donate for the amount of hispanic and mixed race people they need. I do recall checking off everything because even I'm confused :-) Now I'll bet they never imagined these two matching but I LOVE God's imagination. Merry Christmas everyone.
Rosario Dawson and Ethan Hawke.
You mean like these two??
About one in 5 million.
I love that movie! One of my favorite parts is when Minnie Driver is set up with another 'transplant recipient' and it turns out to be a guy who had had a HAIR transplant! That guy was one of the writers of the film! His reaction to her pulling his hair was not rehearsed, and Minnie Driver's response was completely spontaneous and hilarious!
I love that sappy flick for more than just the main "heartwrenching" premise and watching David Duchovny.
The cozy Irish-Italian bar, the "Spring Water" chick, the cardplaying gang, his best friend, that wonderful dog...I could go on. Carroll O'Connor, Bonnie Hunt, Jim Belushi, Minnie, et al. Great casting. And I didn't know that about the hair transplant guy. Funny scene!
I don't buy a lot of movies, but I did do so with this one because it's fun to share.
The other side is a white male professor needed a kidney transplant. He searched for a match, wooed her, married her, got his transplant, then divorced her. And no, the divorce court did not order him to give back the kidney.
OK that does it, I gotta buy that DVD!
It's a freaking love story. How on earth do you find a stem cell soapbox here?
It's a freaking love story. How on earth do you find a stem cell soapbox here? >>
you will have to read the entire article and know well the bias in the media out there.
Question: if the lady has had all of her own bone marrow destroyed by chemo and has new bone marrow transplanted, what is the effect on her DNA? Does this change her DNA? Forever? Does her blood type now match other sources for her DNA, such as the cells in her cheek?
This is a great human interest story, but my daughter and I were discussing the possibilities for a mystery story...
When you plant bone marrow, you keep the red and white cells matching the bone marrow that was planted.
So her DNA of the blood would be that of the marrow donor, not hers...
Here is a discussion of DNA evidence in crime:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mblood.html
Here is a discussion of bone marrow (i.e. stem cells in bone marrow)
http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/Treatments/Stemcellbonemarrowtransplants/Generalinformation/Bonemarrowandstemcells
In the past, when matching bone marrows weren't as exact, people would develop a "graft versus host" reaction, that could be fatal.
Now the matches are better, and the anti rejection drugs are better.
http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/Treatments/Stemcellbonemarrowtransplants/Generalinformation/Graftversushostdisease
many parents are storing their children's "cord blood" at birth just in case the child needs such a tranplant...
http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/681_1160.asp
And I work with many native Americans...and many tribes have active programs to recruit bone marrow donors, since the DNA would be closer in the same racial/genetic background... for example, many local pow wows have booths set up to recruit donors...
It's Christmas, love is in the air, and my personal bias is against any debate for a few days. The issues will be there when I return.
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