CHICAGO, Ill. (The reporter Newswire) -- Umbilical cord stem cell banking can be expensive and controversial, but Jamie and Ben Page decided to bank their daughter Harlow's stem cells, just in case. Then, "just in case" became a reality.
"This is Harlow when she was first born. We had heard about cord blood banking and talked about it a lot and thought let's just go for it and have it just as a backup," Jamie Page, Harlow's mom, told the reporter. It turns out they did need it. Harlow had cancer in her uterus. "On the ultrasound they immediately saw that there was a mass in her abdomen about the size of a grapefruit," Jamie said.
After a year of chemo, the tumor was gone. Doctors wanted to keep it that way. When they learned Jamie had stored Harlow's umbilical cord stem cells when she was born, they were quite excited. They immediately arranged infusion of her stored stem cells. "I think that her umbilical cord cells were used as a boost to her own cells when we harvested her to have adequate cells for reconstitution," Elaine Morgan, MD, Oncologist, Lurie Children's Memorial Hospital, told the reporter. She says banking for a sick sibling is worthwhile. She says only one-in-four siblings are a match and sometimes finding a match can be difficult.
Just before her fifth birthday Harlow's cancer returned. Her parents say the stem cells gave her four years to grow strong so her body could fight the cancer. Harlow has undergone radiation and surgery to remove the tumor. "We still think she has a really good chance of being cured with her current therapy," Jamie said.
The Pages paid almost 2000 dollars for the initial banking fee, plus an extra 125 per year. They say banking Harlow's stem cells was easy. Right after birth the doctor collected the blood and a courier took it to the bank. There are a number of umbilical cord stem cell banking companies online. The Pages recommend doing your research to find a reputable one.
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