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Jonathan Pitre has been diagnosed with chronic graft-versus-host disease — a condition that could complicate his recovery for years to come.
Pitre, 17, has been in a Minnesota hospital for the past two weeks following arthroscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder. Doctors had hoped the operation would relieve his debilitating nausea, but the procedure did not alleviate those symptoms.
Pitre’s gallbladder was badly scarred and needed to be removed, but it’s now apparent the pear-shaped organ was not the only thing causing his nausea.
The Russell teen has been diagnosed with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), a complication that frequently arises in the aftermath of a donor stem cell transplant. The disease, which can increase a patient’s risk of infection, occurs in about 40 per cent of people who receive donor stem cell transplants.
“He really has had everything imaginable,” said his mother, Tina Boileau.
A healthy immune system takes a firewagon approach to trouble inside the body and dispatches white blood cells to halt the spread of bacteria, viruses and mutant cells — anything the immune system regards as a foreign invader.
Chronic GvHD is a complex condition in which white blood cells produced by donor stem cells turn on a patient’s normal tissue cells and attack them as “foreign.”
GvHd can produce a wide variety of symptoms that can last for months, even years. The disease can attack any organ system, but typically affects the gastrointestinal system, liver, skin or lungs.
Pitre is now being treated with a corticosteroid and an immune suppressant in an attempt to restrain his new white blood cells from attacking his body.
The course of chronic GvHD is unpredictable, and Pitre could be taking medication to combat its effects for months or years.
Boileau said the good news is that her son has responded to the initial treatment, which has started to relieve his nausea. His condition has improved since Friday, she said, and the family is hoping to leave hospital this week for their downtown Minneapolis apartment.
Pitre has been in Minnesota since August 2016 and has undergone two stem cell transplants in attempt to make his blistering skin disease, epidermolysis bullosa (EB), more manageable and to extend his life. The second transplant, last April, successfully engrafted in his bone marrow, but his return home to Russell has been delayed by a difficult succession of medical complications.
Boileau has been in the U.S. with her son for so long that her Canadian passport is about to expire next month.
“I’m trying to figure things out, but there’s no way for me to come home,” Boileau said. “I just never thought we’d still be here.”
查看原文...
Pitre, 17, has been in a Minnesota hospital for the past two weeks following arthroscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder. Doctors had hoped the operation would relieve his debilitating nausea, but the procedure did not alleviate those symptoms.
Pitre’s gallbladder was badly scarred and needed to be removed, but it’s now apparent the pear-shaped organ was not the only thing causing his nausea.
The Russell teen has been diagnosed with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), a complication that frequently arises in the aftermath of a donor stem cell transplant. The disease, which can increase a patient’s risk of infection, occurs in about 40 per cent of people who receive donor stem cell transplants.
“He really has had everything imaginable,” said his mother, Tina Boileau.
A healthy immune system takes a firewagon approach to trouble inside the body and dispatches white blood cells to halt the spread of bacteria, viruses and mutant cells — anything the immune system regards as a foreign invader.
Chronic GvHD is a complex condition in which white blood cells produced by donor stem cells turn on a patient’s normal tissue cells and attack them as “foreign.”
GvHd can produce a wide variety of symptoms that can last for months, even years. The disease can attack any organ system, but typically affects the gastrointestinal system, liver, skin or lungs.
Pitre is now being treated with a corticosteroid and an immune suppressant in an attempt to restrain his new white blood cells from attacking his body.
The course of chronic GvHD is unpredictable, and Pitre could be taking medication to combat its effects for months or years.
Boileau said the good news is that her son has responded to the initial treatment, which has started to relieve his nausea. His condition has improved since Friday, she said, and the family is hoping to leave hospital this week for their downtown Minneapolis apartment.
Pitre has been in Minnesota since August 2016 and has undergone two stem cell transplants in attempt to make his blistering skin disease, epidermolysis bullosa (EB), more manageable and to extend his life. The second transplant, last April, successfully engrafted in his bone marrow, but his return home to Russell has been delayed by a difficult succession of medical complications.
Boileau has been in the U.S. with her son for so long that her Canadian passport is about to expire next month.
“I’m trying to figure things out, but there’s no way for me to come home,” Boileau said. “I just never thought we’d still be here.”
查看原文...
