Dear Joan Ann, Interestingly, although by all measures at the time your sister was an exact match, there must have been a mismatch on at least one of the alleles (an allele is that part of your chromosome making up a specific HLA protein). As Jennifer and others have explained, GVHD is a condition in which the donor (graft) cells recognize the recipient/patient's (host) cells as foreign and attack it. The poorer the match, the greater the chance of GVHD. The experts have not identified all the alleles involved in matching donors and recipients. Thus, even 10/10 or 12/12 matches can manifest GVHD, although the chances of this occurring are less than, say, a 9/10 match.
My husband, Rob, has also had GVHD of the gut (he had a 10/10 match). It sure can be uncomfortable. His GVHD of the gut was moderate to severe. He has not had any rash, though. Your story gives me hope that every day will be better. As you say, I hope you and my husband are around at 80 to contemplate "natural causes." Warmly, Kelly --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hi Tanya, > > I would add the following info to Erin's post on GVHD...From my experience, > the severity of the GVHD shows in what my doctor called a "rash." That is the > first visual sign they look for. I had it from the tip of my toes to the top > of my head. > > The rash is the first indication that the transplant is on it's way to doing > it's job. It is graded on a scale from 1 to 4, 4 being the worse. You > definitely want the rash, but not a 4 scale. It was the worse for me. > > My sister was an exact match and I thought that was good. From what I have > gathered, however, that is what gave me all my GVHD problems. Her match was so > good it raised havoc fighting my own body, somewhat like siblings would do. > > I had chronic sores in my mouth, which after 3 yrs have finally left me > alone. The next chronic I dealt with was intestinal. It kept me thin and looking > great, but feeling like crap. > > I believe the closer the HLA match the more possibilities of irritating > problems which you learn to deal with and eventually overcome....but I'm not a > doctor. This is an observation from experiencing, speaking and reading with > others. > > That is all past now and my immune system seems to be working well after 4 > years. > > Do I have the "cure?" When I ask my doctor if I'm cured, he always says > "You'll know that you're cured when you die from natural causes in perhaps your > 80's." > > Joan Ann > > > dx CML 5/3/00 > SCT 12/21/00 > PCR Neg. 1/02 > Still in Remission 2004 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/8zSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> New! Sign up for local CML support group meetings in your local community at http://cml.meetup.com Apply for Commercial Real Estate loans online and submit your deal to dozens of hungry lenders in just minutes. Loan programs for all types of business and commercial real estate. Apply anytime at http://realestatezoo.com CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Support List) --------------------------------- Part Of CMLHope.Com An International Community Of CML Patients For more information: http://cmlhope.com Post Message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To No Mail/Web: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Digest: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CML Group Web Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
