An 18-year-old Ontario woman who was told she will need to undergo chemotherapy to prevent her cancer from returning during the months that she waits for a stem cell transplant got some good news this week.
The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto told Laura Hillier that she can undergo the procedure.
Hillier will still need some chemotherapy “to ensure she stays in remission,” but a lower dose will be required than would have been needed had she been forced to wait much longer, her mother said in an email.
Frances Hillier said she is “relieved,” but added that a lower dose of chemotherapy “will still mean that (Laura’s) blood counts will drop away and she will be susceptible to infections while her immunity is low.”
“The hope is that her body and blood counts recover (in about a month) so she is ready for the transplant process to begin,” she added.
The Burlington, Ont., teen appeared on Canada AM last month and said she had been elated after finding a matching donor, whose stem cells could help cure her acute myeloid leukemia.
She said it was “hard to hear” she would be put on chemotherapy while waiting for a bed to open up at a Hamilton, Ont., cancer centre where the procedure was booked.
In addition to the risk of serious infections, chemotherapies used to kill cancer cells can cause awful side-effects like nausea, fatigue and hair loss.
Frances Hillier pointed out that, although her daughter’s surgery has moved up, there are “still many on stem cell transplant waiting lists in Ontario, and throughout Canada (who are) facing chemotherapy that otherwise would be unnecessary.”
“During the wait, some succumb to infections, some relapse and some die,” she said.
Frances Hillier said in her email that the head of Cancer Care Ontario has assured her he is working on “action plans regarding stem cells.”
She said she expects Laura will be “feeling poorly for a while as the chemotherapy takes hold,” adding, “we appreciate your prayers and the positive wishes.”
