Sister’s marrow match offers hope for brother’s cure

    Patrick’s family and friends will celebrate the typical life he’s living these days at the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, June 23-24 at the Weymouth High school track.

    At the age of 11, Patrick was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia and the years since have been “a roller coaster ride,” his mother said, of treatments, relapses, complications and gradual progress towards a more normal life.

    ”He had come home from school with a fever, and I thought it was just something he caught. The next day he was fine,” she recalled. “For eight days he had on-again, off-again intermittent fevers. One day he had a rash, and then it was gone. The next Sunday, he took himself out of a baseball game. He was white, very pale-looking.”

    Within days Patrick had been admitted to Children’s Hospital with a confirmed diagnosis of CML, a cancer of the blood cells that more commonly affects adults.

    ”They discussed his disease with us. They told us the best case for a cure, not just remission, would be a bone marrow transplant,” said Doherty. She and her husband Gerald were tested, along with their daughter Danielle, then 15, and son Ryan, then age 4. “We found out both our other children were perfect matches.”

    Patrick received chemotherapy to wipe out his immune system to prevent rejection, and then bone marrow was harvested from Danielle’s pelvic bones and transplanted to him.

    ”Typically, it takes 17 days to start seeing the immune system building up again, but for some reason with Patrick it didn’t happen,” said Doherty. “He ended up in the hospital for 60 days. Every day, they’d do the blood work and there were no changes. Finally, it ‘took’ on day 55.”

    Patrick joined his family in their apartment at the Ronald McDonald House, where they’d been living during his treatment, and attended the Jimmy Fund clinic for two more weeks. Finally, the Doherty family returned home in early fall under strict precautions to protect Patrick from infections because of his suppressed immune system.

    No school. No visitors to the house, except the tutor. No fast food. No visits to public places.

    ”Everything had to be cooked fresh for him. We washed fruits and vegetables in soap and water. We used anti-bacterial soap. We kept the house spic and span,” his mother said. “He could go to the movies, if no one else was in the theater.”

    Patrick was able to go outdoors and the weather stayed warm, allowing for fishing trips and mini-golf and street hockey with his friends. And he was able to join his 6th grade class at South Intermediate School after the February vacation.

    ”His progress was super-duper, so when he relapsed a year and a half after the transplant, everyone was very surprised, especially with a sibling as his donor,” said Doherty. After discussing a variety of options, Patrick’s parents decided to forgo another bone marrow transplant. Instead Patrick received the medication Gleevac to keep his leukemia in remission, followed a year later by an infusion of lymphocyte cells, with his sister Danielle once again as donor.

    ”It’s supposed to have a better prognosis,” said Doherty, “but there is a risk of contracting Graft v. Host disease. GVHD fights the leukemia, but it goes after good cells as well.”

    Patrick did develop a form of GVHD that attacked the fascia of his muscles, but he responded very well to treatment with prednisone and is slowly being weaned from that, she said.

    ”He’s okay right now. Every time he goes to the doctor’s, we hold our breath. We went yesterday and he looked good on the regular bloods. The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test for CML looks down deep into the bone marrow. That’s where it would start, if he had leukemia. In two weeks, we’ll get those results.”

    Doherty said people sometimes ask how her family has managed these past five years.

    ”You just have to do it. You never stop thinking about it. A couple of times when his bloods were off, it was like a kick in the stomach,” she said. “There are a lot of kids you probably don’t realize have been through this. You never think it’s going to happen to you or your family. At the Jimmy Fund clinic, we’re amazed at the stories.”

    Now that Patrick is doing well, Doherty said the family decided it was time to do something to help others, and Weymouth’s first annual Relay For Life seemed like a good idea.

    The Doherty/Belcastro team will join with more than 40 others to maintain a constant presence on the track and raise money and awareness for ACS programs of education, advocacy, research and support for patients and families.

    Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event. The theme for the Weymouth event is “Wish Upon A Star! Guiding the Way to a Cure.” The family-oriented Relay program also includes games, contests, entertainment, “theme” laps throughout the night and a challenge to teams to design imaginative campsites.

    The Relay opens officially with the Survivors’ Ceremonial Lap to honor those living with cancer and their caregivers. A catered reception follows the opening lap. As the sun goes down, the lights will be dimmed as the track is illuminated by thousands of candles in luminaria bags dedicated by donors in memory or in honor of someone with cancer.

    More information on the 2006 Relay For Life, including survivor registration, online team registration, donations and dedication of luminaria is available on the website at www.acsevents.org/relay/maweymouth.

    Survivorship chair Dianne Rattigan can also be reached by calling her at Crescent Realty, 617-922-9407, or by sending an e-mail to dmrattigan@aol.com. Ficociello can be contacted by e-mail to weymouthrelayforlife@hotmail.com.

    Additional information on American Cancer Society programs and events is available on the web at www.cancer.org or by calling 1-800-ACS-2345.

    The Community Newspaper Company, publisher of The Weymouth News, is an official sponsor of Relay For Life.