Spring Break
Bone marrow transplant saves a life
Noelle Myers
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
11/06/09 - It was May of 2004 during her junior year of high school when University of Rhode Island student Jackie Tally desperately needed a bone marrow transplant to save her life.
Tally said she remembers making a tuna sandwich for her younger sister when the phone rang and her father went into his bedroom to take the call. She thought nothing of it at the time, and didn't even realize what was going on. Tally turned to find her father standing in front of her. "Immediately I felt a pit in my stomach," Tally said.
He told her she had leukemia and was going to have to beat it. "That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to beat it," Tally said.
Before being diagnosed Tally was in and out of school from Nov. 2003 to May 2004 because she was constantly sick. She had ear infections, fevers and even cases of pneumonia. She was in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices because no one could give her an answer. Tally said she almost felt relieved when she found out, not because she had cancer, but because she finally had an answer.
"I knew that I was dying, but [they weren't] figuring anything out," she said.
Leukemia is when you have abnormal white blood cells that don't die off when they should and crowd your good blood cells, she said. This interrupts the way good blood cells work.
Tally was originally diagnosed with MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), which is when the bone marrow doesn't make enough blood cells for the body. MDS can progress into AML (acute myelogenous leukemia), which occurred in Tally's case after about four months.
For Tally, a bone marrow transplant was pretty much her only option, but it's not easy to get one right away. She said a bone marrow transplant is when you need new blood and need to replace stem cells.
In order to receive the transplant, you have to find a donor.
"Your immune systems have to match each other very specifically," she said. "Sometimes people never find a match."
Tally said she remembers making a tuna sandwich for her younger sister when the phone rang and her father went into his bedroom to take the call. She thought nothing of it at the time, and didn't even realize what was going on. Tally turned to find her father standing in front of her. "Immediately I felt a pit in my stomach," Tally said.
He told her she had leukemia and was going to have to beat it. "That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to beat it," Tally said.
Before being diagnosed Tally was in and out of school from Nov. 2003 to May 2004 because she was constantly sick. She had ear infections, fevers and even cases of pneumonia. She was in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices because no one could give her an answer. Tally said she almost felt relieved when she found out, not because she had cancer, but because she finally had an answer.
"I knew that I was dying, but [they weren't] figuring anything out," she said.
Leukemia is when you have abnormal white blood cells that don't die off when they should and crowd your good blood cells, she said. This interrupts the way good blood cells work.
Tally was originally diagnosed with MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), which is when the bone marrow doesn't make enough blood cells for the body. MDS can progress into AML (acute myelogenous leukemia), which occurred in Tally's case after about four months.
For Tally, a bone marrow transplant was pretty much her only option, but it's not easy to get one right away. She said a bone marrow transplant is when you need new blood and need to replace stem cells.
In order to receive the transplant, you have to find a donor.
"Your immune systems have to match each other very specifically," she said. "Sometimes people never find a match."
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