We brought this story to you in March 2019, when Estella was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) with Philadelphia Plus Chromosome. ALL is an aggressive blood cancer. With the added factor that Estella has Philadelphia Plus, she urgently needed a marrow transplant to survive.
In July 2019, after six months of searching for an unrelated donor and no matches being found, Estella had a stem cell transplant using her brother’s stem cells, not ideal as he was only a 50 percent match. Her disease had progressed to the point where she could no longer wait for a perfect unrelated donor match. Estella has faced several major complications after the stem cell transplant.
Now, seven months after her transplant, Estella has relapsed. No unrelated donor was found in the Registry for Estell. However, her sister was a match and now able to donate to Estella.
Estella had her second transplant using her sister’s stem cell in November 2020. Here is to hoping that the second time around sticks.
Estella,
I saw your story on the news tonight about your attempts to find a match donor. I am of Korean decent and have signed up to be tested in your name. I hope we are a match. It would be an honor to help.
Hi!! I am also of Korean heritage….i could go get swabbed to see if we match. How do in do that???