Sheila was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma several years ago. Treatment in 2014 kept the disease in remission until the end of 2016. Over the past year she has been participating in a drug trial at Washington University in St. Louis. The drugs were keeping Sheila’s white blood cell count in the normal range, though all along her doctors reported that MCL was still present in her blood stream. In November, 2017 they suggested we consider a back-up plan in case the drugs could no longer control the MCL. In December her doctors at the University of Chicago recommended we consult a stem cell transplant team.
A stem cell transplant offers the prospect of a complete cure. The key to success is a good match, with a sibling match being the best possible outcome. We were thrilled to learn that her older sister, Mary Pat Barrett Teague, is a full HLA match. She has been travelling back and forth from Nashville with her husband Phil, in anticipation of donating her stem cells for a transplant that is now scheduled for February 27, 2018.
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