Kent McKelvey

As many of you know, Kent’s new bone marrow (from a transplant as a result of a fun case of AML leukemia in 2017) celebrated its first birthday on May 31. Yay! Unfortunately, like many toddlers, it has recently started misbehaving - low platelets, iffy cell numbers, etc. Long story short, we’ve found out that the AML has come back. Boo! Given the aggressive nature of the disease, the decision has been made to go straight to transplant #2. He checked in at UAMS on Monday to begin chemotherapy. He’ll have to go into remission before he’ll be eligible for Transplant 2:Electric Boogaloo, which will eventually take place at MD Anderson in Houston. The good news is that they started him immediately on virtually the same chemo protocol that put him in remission the first time. He couldn’t be in better hands, and, while this is obviously disappointing news, we’re very hopeful for a positive outcome. We’ll update this site as we get more information but in the meantime all prayers and well-wishes are dearly appreciated. And please - if you haven't already - join the National Bone Marrow Registry. It's easy, quick, painless, and can literally save a life.