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Jaclyn Albanese writes:
My name is Jaclyn Albanese. I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in October of 1998, when I was fifteen, a sophomore in high school. I had six months of chemotherapy, which caused my hair to fall out and made me rather nauseous. After the six months of chemotherapy everything was going great until I started to find little red bumps on different parts of my body. I had a biopsy done on one of them and found out that there were cancer cells present, which meant I relapsed and had to get a transplant. When we found out my brother nor anyone else matched my bone marrow, the search for a cord-blood donor started. I was told there were two that were very close matches to me, which is two more than I expected at that point. Before I actually received the transplant, I received radiation and more chemotherapy. I had the transplant in the summer of 1999. After the transplant I was confined to my hospital room for five weeks and when I was able to leave I had to wear a mask over my nose and mouth when in public. During this time I had certain restrictions, such as the food I ate and whom I was around, due to the fact that I was very susceptible to infection. A few months later I was able to eat regularly and not wear the mask anymore.
I have now graduated from Rutgers University and have begun a career working in broadcasting. The last time I went to the clinic for a check-up, I was told not to come back for a year, which is a significant change from past years. My hair has now grown past my shoulders and I feel good, but still have to deal with a weak immune system. If it wasn't for the National Cord Blood Program at New York Blood Center, I have no idea what kind of shape I'd be in right now. I'm thankful for them and all the new research being put into cord blood transplants.
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