This article talks about the procedure of a bone marrow transplant. In the book, My Sisters Keeper, there are two sisters named Anna and Kate. Kate has been battling leukemia since she was little and her sister Anna, is conceived as a bone marrow match for her. There are so many steps to go through with this procedure that its crazy. A bone marrow transplant is a procedures to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of your blood cells. Before the transplant chemotherapy, radiation, or both may be given. There are two ways this can be done; ablative treatment and reduced intensity treatment. Ablative treatment is high-dose chemotherapy, radiation, or both are given to kill any cancer cells. This also kills all healthy bone marrow that remains, and allows new stem cells to grow in the bone marrow. Reduced intensity treatment is when patients receive lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation before a transplant. There are a lot of risks that one must be willing to take for this procedure. A bone marrow transplant may cause chest pain, chills, blood pressure may drop, fever, weird taste in the mouth, headaches, hives, nausea, pain, and shortness of breathe. Your healthcare provider will ask about your medical history and will perform a physical exam. You will have many tests before treatment begins. Before someone goes through the transplant, they will have one or two tubes ( catheters), inserted into a blood vessel in their neck or arms. This tube will allow the person to receive treatments, fluids, and sometimes nutrition. The doctor or nurse will then talk about the emotional stress of having a bone marrow transplant. It's good idea to meet with a mental health counselor as well. It is also important for someone to talk to their family to help them understand what to expect. While in the hospital, you may receive medications to prevent or treat infections, you need many blood transfusions, and you will be fed through a vein (IV) until you can eat by mouth and stomach side effects and mouth sores have gone away.
I personally feel that Anna is too young to be giving a bone marrow transplant. I understand that her sister has cancer but 13 to me is a young age to be going through that process. I think they should ask a different member of the family, someone older. If I was Sarah, I would not make Anna go through that process because its torture. The symptoms after a bone marrow is terrible. I wouldn't want to have Anna to have pains in her chest, or her blood pressure to drop, or nausea, or even shortness of breathe. Its just too risky and what if things go wrong? Why can't Sarah ask someone who's older? I don't mean to sound that way but Anna is too young. The fact that she has gone through blood transfusions and surgeries just bothers me. I know that this is all for her sister and she's helping. She is a strong girl, I just feel bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment