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Amy's Journey 
Dennis (9) and Amy (16)
Welcome to Amy Vangel's Web Page
Amy is an enthusiastic and fun-loving tenth grader from Hingham, MA who has a sickness. Amy has Fanconi Anemia, a deadly inherited anemia that leads to bone marrow failure.
This web site was started to keep friends and families updated about Amy's progress as she underwent a bone marrow transplant in 2002 to save her life and now it chronicles her recovery post-transplant. The entire unrelated bone marrow transplant procedure involved approximately 120 days in Minnesota, mostly in the hospital, followed by 6 months of homebound recuperation back in Hingham, MA to rebuild her immune system.
This is her journey of faith, hope, and love.
Journal
Monday, October 2, 2006 1:10 PM CDT 4 Years Post-BMT (unrelated 5/6 match)
It's hard to believe that we're 4 years post bone marrow transplant. We read the web sites of families who are currently going through the transplant experience, and we are grateful to have gotten through it all. It's a long haul.
I have been remiss in updating the web site but there is a lot of truth in the old saying that "no news is good news".
Amy is now a sophomore in high school and this past weekend attended Hingham High School's "Homecoming Dance". On the 20th we will be celebrating her 16th birthday. It is a birthday that her first pediatric oncologist told us she would not see.
For those of you who are either newly diagnosed with FA, or are a family member of someone newly diagnosed, there is hope. Research funded by FA patients, their families, and friends, has greatly improved outcomes and quality of lives for many patients afflicted with Fanconi's.
We still have far to go to finding a "cure" but we have many dedicated, highly intelligent researchers who are working hard to help us in this struggle. Thank you for helping to support this research that has allowed us to be 4 years post-transplant. Please continue to generously support the advancement of this research so that more FA patients will survive transplant and enjoy a good quality of life as a young adult.
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Patient Room: On December 20, 2002 we left to return home to New England. Amy will be able to receive guests . Please no live plants, or exposure to colds/flu and other viruses. Vangel Family
6 Liberty Road
Hingham, MA 02043
Links: http://www.fanconi.org The Fanconi Anemia Research Fund has been a wonderful source of family support and education for us. They have funded research grants that have dramatically improved transplant outcomes and the scientific understanding of this deadly disease.We are grateful for their help. Please support them.
http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/7_41.htm National Cancer Institute's description of bone marrow and peripheral stem cell transplants
http://www.marrow.org/HELP/join_the_registry.html If you are between the ages of 18 and 60 please consider joining the bone marrow registry. You might save a life!
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