Honored Hero

Meet our Honored Hero Riley

In March of 2019, 15 year old Riley did not want to go to school because she was not feeling well. Her parents took her to the doctor, only to be told she was fine and to go to school. Riley’s primary physician has known her for many years and could tell there was something wrong. The physician ordered blood work to be done which indicated her white blood cell count was 82, which is extremely high, and a CT scan showed that Riley had a major kidney infection. The doctors worked around the clock for five days trying to convince themselves it was just an infection, and she was discharged and brought home. Her symptoms did not improve, and Riley was admitted to the ER on March 22, 2019, where a marker test showed Riley had Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), a rare form of blood cancer that attacks a person’s white blood cells. 

 Riley has a hematologist and an oncologist that started her on Gleevec, which was ineffective and had many side effects. They then switched her to Sprycel, which LLS helped fund the development, and that medication helped for a while, but her white blood cell counts went back up and Riley needed a bone marrow transplant. 

 Riley found a match and had her bone marrow transplant on April 27, 2023, which is now considered her second birthday. Though the donor was a perfect match, they were of different blood types, so the doctors treated her with antirejection medication and Methotrexate to help keep the graft vs host disease down. The doctors have said nothing unexpected so far, which is great news!!! She has had some side effects including sores that have kept her from eating and talking, but she is expected to be released shortly where she will have to stay near her doctors for care before she can return home. 

 We will continue to post updates about Riley’s post-transplant journey here!