The Don Margolis Blog

Last week, I brought you the story of Cameron Hardy, a 19 year old man stricken with leukemia. Cameron couldn't find the matching bone marrow donor he needed to save his life.  Therefore, his doctors had to find another option- cord blood stem cells. (Cameron was treated yesterday, I wish him all the best)

Before, a bone marrow transplant was the final option for these patients such as Cameron, patients who were suffering from life threatening ailments.

However, very recently, doctors are finding there is yet one more arrow in their quivers- a cord blood stem cell transplant.

Alishba Qamer's predicament is very similar to Cameron's. Alishba, only 9 months old, is suffering from osteopetrosis - a rare hereditary bone disorder that can be fatal and the only known cure is a bone marrow transplant (and now perhaps a cord blood stem cell transplant). Alishba's parents and community desperately searched for a matching donor, but none were found.  So again, very similar to Cameron's case, Alishba's doctors are turning to cord blood stem cells:

The healthy stem cells would be injected into Alishba and it is hoped they would replace the faulty cells that cause her illness.

Alishba's aunt Shaheena Salahuddin, aged 26, of Saltley, said: We had thought a bone marrow transplant was the only way forward.

We know we have to be realistic and be grateful for any chance.

Shaheena has now joined Alishba's parents, Javed and Shakeela, to launch a petition for a national umbilical cord blood bank. - a great idea, more chances to find a matching donor (bone marrow + cord blood) give these patients more chances to survive!- DM

Click here to read more about Alishba

I'm coming across more stories now that show that Repair Stem Cell treatments are working for Crohn's disease sufferers.  This is great news for these patients who suffer symptoms like diarrhea and continuous abdominal pain and cramps on an everyday basis.

Crohn's disease is what plagued Billy Tytaneck, 25, of St Catharines, Canada. Diagnosed with Crohn's at the age of 12, Billy had spent half his life battling the disease.  However, he was at the end of his rope and facing a complicated bowel removal surgery. But Billy had other ideas.  He had read of Repair Stem Cell treatment helping Crohn's disease in the United States, but it had never been done in Canada.  So Billy took it upon himself to seek out a Canadian doctor who had used Repair Stem Cells to treat Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis (but never Crohn's)- Dr. Harold Atkins, at The Ottawa Hospital.

Dr. Atkins agreed to Billy's request and Billy became the first Canadian to be treated with stem cell treatment for Crohn's disease.  How did that turn out?  Let's hear from Billy:

I'm much, much better easily 100 per cent improved from what I was last year, Tytaneck said Tuesday in a phone interview from his home in Collingwood.

"It's not perfect yet, but my symptoms are improving all the time, he said.

He recently began working as a mechanical engineer for a firm in Collingwood a job that would have been difficult for him to do prior to the transplant.

I can go out for a day and do anything without worrying about getting sick, he said.

It's a huge difference. I enjoy everything so much more.

Tytaneck is hopeful raising awareness about the procedure will make transplants more common for other Crohn's patients.

People don't even know it's an option. I want it to be an option for anyone who's facing surgery, he said.  - Billy's goal and my goal is very similar.  That is one of the reasons I formed the Repair Stem Cell Institute- I want Repair (Adult) Stem Cells to be a known option for all of those with very little or no options.- DM

Billy has formed his own stem cell transplant for Crohn's disease website to help attain that goal too.

Click here to read the full story

It has been awhile since I posted a story about Repair Stem Cell therapy for dogs so I thought I would do so again. I want to get the word out as there are possibly thousands of dogs out there who could benefit from this.  No, I'm not expecting the dogs to read this blog :).  However, some dog owners may read this and get some good ideas- that adult stem cells are benefiting animals/humans right now!  This isn't the future.  It is now:


Kodiak, 10, has suffered from arthritis most of his life, but three months ago, he took a turn for the worse and couldn't get up. When his owners found out about pet stem cell therapy, they thought, "why not?"

Researchers near San Diego are hoping the contents in a test tube can help other dogs, like Kodiak, and revolutionize some types of pet care.

"It reduces the pain, increases range of motion, and ability to function more normally," said Bob Harman, Vet-Stem CEO.

"It really is just your own natural cells," said Harman. "All we do is speed it up, put more of them on the battlefield, quickly." -- I couldn't have said it better- DM

"Within a few days to a week, you could actually see... It was so fascinating," said Kodiak's owner, Terence Francis. "You could actually see the limbs tightening up."

Some vets are still waiting for more data, but more than 1,000 have already signed up to be certified in the procedure. The Vet-Stem lab work runs about $2,500 to $3,500. Kodiak's owners say it's worth it. "Now that he's, once again, got that pep in his step."

Click here to read the whole story

I love these stories- an anonymous bone marrow (stem cell) donor generously registers his bone marrow (http://www.marrow.org) stem cells and then is called upon to save a life and then comes through for the patient. And later (usually years later) they meet for the first time

That is what happened in this case.  Larry Murdock of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had registered his bone marrow and was notified that an anonymous leukemia patient from Israel was in need.  Mr. Murdock generously donated his stem cells and it turns out he saved Dahlia Schlesinger's life.

Last week, Dahlia and Larry met for the first time in a tearful "reunion" of sorts:

She came to visit him while she was in the states for a wedding. Now the blood siblings are inseparable.

"They're a nice second family for us," says Murdock. Schlesinger could only cry as they hugged.

"I saw an angel in front of me," she gasped with a thick accent. "And he looks so young, so healthy, beautiful. And I went to him and I hug him.

What a great moment! This is the reason why I keep telling you readers to register your bone marrow at www.marrow.org - you can save someone's life and the procedure isn't that difficult, the article describes it:

His part required some preparation, too -- first, shots for five days to boost the number of stem cells.

"Then he went through the aphoresis procedure," explains Sharon King of the Central Blood Bank, "where he had a needle in each arm, and his blood came out of one arm, circulated through the centrifugal machine, pulled out only the stem cells, and gave everything else back to him."

Read more about this happy story

Almost 4 weeks ago, I blogged about little Hailey Goranflo, 5, who went to China to receive Repair (Adult) Stem Cell treatment for her Batten Disease- a fatal, inherited disorder of the nervous system.  4 weeks ago, Hailey had received 40% of her stem cell therapy and had shown some improvement in her symptoms. Now, after her full Repair Stem Cell Treatment, she has shown incredible improvement! Don't tell Hailey's mother that Repair Stem Cells are "limited"! We now have another believer in Repair Stem Cells as well as a very happy mother:

Hailey, and her mom Miranda, have just returned from a seven week trip to China for the first round of treatment and all four members of the Goranflo family - Hailey, Miranda, Neil and Carter - are happy to finally be back under one roof.

"It was much more than we ever expected," said Miranda Goranflo.

She and Hailey returned home to Shepherdsville around 2:30 a.m. Thursday after seven weeks in Beijing, China.

"Going there, we weren't expecting very much. We didn't want to get our hopes up too high and be let down," said Miranda.

And they weren't. The Goranflo's say the decision to take Hailey to China to receive stem cell treatment that isn't available in the U.S. was the best one they could have made. (I agree- DM) They say Hailey's stronger and more alert. She's more relaxed and breathes better, without an oxygen machine. But the biggest improvement they have seen is the dramatic decrease in the number of seizures she now has.

"Before we left, she was having hundreds a day, so many that you couldn't even keep count. Now she has maybe 5, sometimes on a bad day she'll have ten seizures. It is an amazing improvement," says Miranda.

She says Hailey's treatment went beyond just stem cells. She had sessions with a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, daily massages and rigorous physical therapy.

"Now, when I play with her, sing to her, read to her she tries to vocalize to me. She just has a completely different facial expression her eyes just light up and just looks like she feels so much better," Miranda says.

AHHHH- A very happy story to run into the weekend!- DM

Click here to read the whole thing

Cameron Hardy is a 19 year old man living in Carson City, Nevada. Last year, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Doctors say he needs a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant to save him.Unfortunately, they couldn't find a matching donor. This is the reason why I constantly implore my readers to register! register! register at http://www.marrow.org and maybe you will have the opportunity to save somebody's life. Despite all the success stories I show you here, there are many I can't tell you- the ones where a matching donor isn't found.  Therefore, the more people who register, the better chance these sick patients have.

Well, these days, bone marrow transplants aren't the only game in town. Now, we have cord blood stem cell transplants to work with too.  Since time was short, Cameron's doctors began searching cord blood registries.  Luckily, they have found a match, and now Cameron has a great chance to survive. The stem cell treatment is very similar to a bone marrow stem cell transplant-- if it goes according to plan-  the stem cells from the cord blood will survive in a patient's bone marrow and produce healthy white blood cells. Here is more:

Despite hundreds of people showing up for bone marrow testing on behalf of Cameron Hardy, no match was found. Now doctors have scheduled the Carson City 19-year-old for a cord blood transplant, his mother said Wednesday.


The transplant team (was) unable to locate a donor match for Cameron and were concerned at this point that timing was now their main focus. UCD began searching cord blood registries and came up with two that matched each other as well as being a good match for Cameron, Lynn wrote.

Lynn expressed her gratitude to the hundreds of people who showed up on June 22 to be tested for a bone marrow match for Cameron.

You all mean so much to us and we know you are all keeping your chins up with great faith and positive attitudes. Remember: Two Thumbs Up,as Cameron always says.

Click here to read the whole thing