Waldo vs. Wanda

A bit of new data: Waldo won.

We noted back in May that Drew received stem cells from the cord blood of two babies - one a girl from St. Louis and another from a boy from North Carolina. Since stem cells are immature when donated from cord blood, gender and blood type don't matter, just the other factors that go into matching donors to patients. Being a full sized adult, Drew received two donor cells, since this new procedure has shown it greatly increased the odds of a successful transplant. Since no one can predict which one yet, Drew got both samples.

We had already started the jokes and kidding with Drew about the consequences of girl stem cells (none, but that didn't stop us). The news is that, despite enjoying the "A Fish Named Wanda" fun, the girl cells didn't win. Since Drew was a part of a clinical trial on this new procedure, the Duke team tested his growing bone marrow and confirmed that the transplant worked, and 87% of Drew's stem cells were the boy's (we never named him, but Waldo will have to do), 2% were Wanda's, and the rest was his residual bone marrow. His last few days of blood tests indicated increasing production of platlets and white blood cells. The Waldo cells would have eventually become 100%.

We again thank the anonymous parents who donated the cells, and we know that Drew's experience is inspiring several other families to donate as their babies are born. His successful transplant will contribute to the body of knowledge on cancer research, and we are confident we will hear about others being successfully treated as cord blood donations increase. That feels good.