Dana-Farber Patient Recovering Well After Cancer and the Coronavirus | Dana-Farber – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
By daniellenierenberg
Pam Dobay is a warrior. In the last three years, the 67-year-old has dealt with a cancer diagnosis and stem cell transplant before recently contracting the coronavirus.
None of it was easy, but today, Dobay is recovering at home. She says she cannot begin to express the gratitude she feels towards everyone who has cared for her, including her Dana-Farber care team and her family.
When this is all over, I want to show everyone at Dana-Farber what they did, and thank them for everything, says Dobay.
In February 2018, Dobay was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a blood disorder in which the bone marrow is unable to produce healthy red blood cells. Dobays primary care physician first worried something wasnt right after her test results from routine blood work came back abnormal. Myelofibrosis is a precursor condition for leukemia, meaning it puts those who are diagnosed at a much higher chance of developing the disease.
Dobay, who lives in Holbrook, MA, was placed under the care of Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, medical director of the Adult Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Womens Cancer Center. Initially, she was given blood transfusions to help her body compensate for the bone marrows inability to produce red blood cells. This treatment is not designed to be a permanent fix, despite being highly effective for a short period of time: Eventually, Dobay would need a bone marrow transplant.
In September 2018, just six months after her diagnosis, Dobay underwent a reduced-intensity transplant (sometimes referred to as a mini-transplant). Mini-transplant patients receive lower doses of chemotherapy than are used in a full-intensity transplant, and in general, receive no radiation therapy. The reduced-intensity procedure was developed for older patients and others who often cant tolerate the harsh side effects of full-intensity treatments.
The procedure still proved to be difficult for Dobay, who ended up in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to complications. This was a possibility her care team had prepared for, and slowly, her condition improved. While she still has some symptoms of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), she and her family including Robert Dobay, her husband of 45 years hoped this would be her toughest test.
In March 2020, Dobay started experiencing fevers, chills, and difficulty breathing three symptoms of the coronavirus. Dobays family called Cutler, who instructed them to immediately bring her to the nearest emergency room. She was initially treated at her local hospital, but after she tested positive for the coronavirus, the family pushed for her to be transported to Brigham and Womens Hospital.
The team at Dana-Farber encourages anyone who is experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19 to report them right away. Even if you have a confirmed case of the coronavirus, there are measures in place to ensure you can receive the care thats safe for you, your care team, and other patients and staff members.
Because Dobay was a former bone marrow transplant recipient and has GVHD, she is immunocompromisedand was at an increased risk for developing severe symptoms due to COVID-19. Upon being admitted to the ICU at Brigham and Womens, her condition worsened, and she needed to be placed on a ventilator.
Due to visitor restrictions, the Dobays were not allowed to visit her in the hospital, so her husband called her care team every day to check in.
Dr. Cutler contacted Francisco Marty, MD, an infectious disease specialist in the Adult Stem Cell Transplantation Center at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Womens Cancer Center, to discuss Dobays care. Marty was the principal investigator of trials testing the antiviral drug remdesivir, and its ability to treat patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.At the time, it was unclear if it would help bone marrow transplant recipients.
Dobay became the first stem cell transplant patient at Brigham and Womens to receive the drug. A week after starting treatment her lung function improved, and she was able to come off the ventilator. However, other medical complications led to her being placed back on the ventilator and to remain in the intensive care unit for a couple of more weeks. Over time, she was once again taken off the ventilator, and in early May she was finally able to go home.
We were very happy that the remdesivir trials were open to all patients, including many of our cancer and bone marrow transplant patients at Dana-Farber, says Marty. The initial reports from the clinical trials have shown patients who receive remdesivir recover faster from COVID-19 pneumonia. As additional analyses from the trials are performed, we will be able to see more closely how remdesivir helped the cancer patients at Dana-Farber and elsewhere.
We were all terrified, but she is just incredibly strong, Robert Dobay says. We are so thankful for her care team who helped her get through this.
Dobay says she has regained most of her strength since returning home, and in addition to her physical therapy, she is once again doing squats, weightlifting, and sit-ups. She is also back to going on walks with her daughter and her dog.
Pam has such a strong will, and her supportive husband was a remarkably large part of her recovery, says Tricia Severns, ANP-BC, OCN, a nurse practitioner at Dana-Farber and a member of Dobays care team. The entire family is incredibly strong and supportive.
I feel really lucky to still be here, adds Dobay. I could not have gotten through all of this without my family. Wed do anything for one another.
Excerpt from:
Dana-Farber Patient Recovering Well After Cancer and the Coronavirus | Dana-Farber - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Resilient anatomy and local plasticity of naive and stress haematopoiesis - Nature.com - March 26th, 2024
- A Deeper Depth of Response After Salvage Therapy Improves Outcomes of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in ... - Cureus - March 26th, 2024
- Iron restriction keeps blood stem cells young, researchers find - Phys.org - March 18th, 2024
- Blood drive, bone marrow testing to be held in local woman's memory - The Winchester Star - March 18th, 2024
- Signal of Benefit for Stem Cell Therapy in Progressive MS - Medscape - March 10th, 2024
- Woman, 22, With Leukemia Recalls Symptoms And New Treatment She Received: EXCLUSIVE - TODAY - March 10th, 2024
- This Swedish startup wants to reduce the cost, and controversy, around stem cell production - TechCrunch - March 10th, 2024
- Outcomes and prognosis of haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with FLT3-ITD mutated ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Harmonizing definitions for hematopoietic recovery, graft rejection, graft failure, poor graft function, and donor ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Hematopoietic cell transplantation and cell therapy activity landscape survey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; a report ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- How an MS friendship led to HSCT and a love of running - Multiple Sclerosis News Today - March 10th, 2024
- Iron Limitation Preserves Youthfulness of Blood Stem Cells - Mirage News - March 10th, 2024
- Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis: A retrospective analysis of the ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- AJMC in the Press, February 23, 2024 - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network - February 24th, 2024
- Orca Bio Presents Promising Data on Orca-T in Two Oral Presentations at the 2024 Tandem Meetings of ASTCT and ... - Yahoo Finance - February 24th, 2024
- New approaches to live-track the production of different types of blood cells in mice - Medical Xpress - February 24th, 2024
- If Other Treatments Aren't Working -- Stem Cell Transplant May Be A Good Option In CLL - SurvivorNet - February 24th, 2024
- Expanding the Horizons of Cell and Gene Therapy - RegMedNet - February 24th, 2024
- The strangers who saved each others lives - BBC - February 24th, 2024
- City of Hope Research Featuring the Successful Treatment of the Oldest Patient to Achieve Remission for Leukemia ... - StreetInsider.com - February 15th, 2024
- 3D printing and material processing combined to create artificial bone - Optics.org - February 15th, 2024
- Man, 63, is in remission from HIV five years after receiving groundbreaking stem cell transplant... - The Sun - February 15th, 2024
- Team demonstrates fabrication method to construct 3D structures that mimic bone microstructure - Phys.org - February 15th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Their Role in Development and Disease Therapy - The Scientist - February 15th, 2024
- Blood cell family trees trace how production changes with aging - MIT News - February 7th, 2024
- New study on promising stem cell-based therapy for Crohn's disease - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Second haploidentical bone marrow transplantation with antithymocyte antibody-containing conditioning regimen for ... - Nature.com - January 30th, 2024
- Stem cell study shows how gene activity modulates the amount of immune cell production in mice - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Global Stem Cell Therapy Industry Outlook to 2028, Driven by Therapeutic Innovations and Clinical Advancements ... - Yahoo Finance - January 30th, 2024
- 1st-of-its-kind therapy blocks immune attack after stem-cell transplant - Livescience.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Individualized dose of anti-thymocyte globulin based on weight and pre-transplantation lymphocyte counts in pediatric ... - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Implications of stress-induced gene expression for hematopoietic stem cell aging studies - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- LVHN announces opening of new stem cell transplant center. Here's what that means for the Lehigh Valley - The Morning Call - January 22nd, 2024
- Fast Five Quiz: Chronic GVHD Risk Factors and Prevention - Medscape Reference - January 22nd, 2024
- Could Treatments for HIV and Sickle Cell Open the Gene Therapy Floodgates? - BioSpace - January 22nd, 2024
- Effects of fine particulate matter on bone marrow-conserved hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells: a systematic ... - Nature.com - January 14th, 2024
- Donating Bone Marrow and Stem Cells: The Process and What To Expect - On Cancer - Memorial Sloan Kettering - January 14th, 2024
- No, Rep. Steve Scalise Didn't Vote Against Stem Cell Research From Which He Is Now Benefiting - Yahoo News - January 14th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Market to Grow Rapidly During the Study Period (2019-2032), Evaluates ... - PR Newswire - January 14th, 2024
- Life-saving donation from Philly athlete saves life: 'Feeling so strong, I owe that all to him' - AOL - January 14th, 2024
- The Key to Creating Blood Stem Cells May Lie in Your Own Blood - ScienceAlert - January 14th, 2024
- Dr Phillips on the Rationale for the GLOBRYTE Trial in Relapsed/Refractory MCL - OncLive - January 14th, 2024
- COVID-19 and HSCT Recipients: Risk Factors and Prevention Measures - Medriva - January 14th, 2024
- Bone Marrow Transplant: Heres What You Need To Know About This Therapy - Times Now - January 5th, 2024
- New insights about the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Drug Target Review - December 28th, 2023
- Bone Marrow Transplantation | Johns Hopkins Medicine - December 20th, 2023
- Stem Cell or Bone Marrow Transplant | American Cancer Society - December 20th, 2023
- Embryonic-stem-cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells relieve experimental contact urticaria by regulating the functions ... - Nature.com - December 20th, 2023
- Researchers discover crucial step in creating blood stem cells - Phys.org - December 20th, 2023
- A niche topic: understanding the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center - December 20th, 2023
- Vertex developed a CRISPR cure. Its already on the hunt for something better. - MIT Technology Review - December 20th, 2023
- FDA approves cure for sickle cell disease, the first treatment to use gene-editing tool CRISPR - NBC News - December 12th, 2023
- First therapy using CRISPR technology will treat sickle cell disease - Morning Brew - December 12th, 2023
- 7 medical breakthroughs that gave us hope in 2023 - National Geographic - December 12th, 2023
- Understanding Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment - Everyday Health - December 12th, 2023
- Mansour bin Zayed witnesses inauguration of ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 - ZAWYA - November 26th, 2023
- ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 to take place in Abu Dhabi - ZAWYA - November 18th, 2023
- Orchard Therapeutics Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Announces Initiation of Rolling Submission for Biologics License Application of... - May 16th, 2023
- Family of 7-month-old in need of bone marrow transplant hosting donor registration event - CBS Pittsburgh - May 8th, 2023
- Anika Continues to Expand Addressable Market for Tactoset Injectable Bone Substitute with Additional 510(k) Clearance from FDA - Marketscreener.com - April 5th, 2023
- MorphoSys Completes Enrollment of Phase 3 MANIFEST-2 Study of Pelabresib in Myelofibrosis with Topline Results Expected by End of 2023 -... - April 5th, 2023
- VOR BIOPHARMA INC. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 25th, 2023
- BioRestorative Therapies to Seek FDA Approval to Expand the Clinical Application of BRTX-100 - Marketscreener.com - March 17th, 2023
- BioSenic delivers a new post-hoc analysis of its Phase III JTA-004 trial on knee osteo-arthritis with positive action on the most severely affected... - March 17th, 2023
- JASPER THERAPEUTICS, INC. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 9th, 2023
- For a range of unmet medical needs, India offers a fantastic opportunity to push cell and gene therapies: B .. - ETHealthWorld - March 9th, 2023
- NGM BIOPHARMACEUTICALS INC Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 1st, 2023
- Bone health: Tips to keep your bones healthy - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone marrow drive held for military wife with cancer - January 27th, 2023
- Bone cancer - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone | Definition, Anatomy, & Composition | Britannica - January 19th, 2023
- Bone Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster - January 19th, 2023
- What Is Bone? | NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National ... - January 19th, 2023
- Anatomy of the Bone | Johns Hopkins Medicine - January 19th, 2023
- Bone Health: Is Eating Meat Healthy For Your Bones? - January 19th, 2023
- Bone Keeper | Deepwoken Wiki | Fandom - January 19th, 2023
- With blood and plasma donations in short supply, uniting communities to give the gift of life - Toronto Star - January 3rd, 2023
- Side Effects of a Bone Marrow Transplant (Stem Cell Transplant) - December 25th, 2022
- 28-year-old cancer patient at Nebraska Medicine advocates for diversity in bone marrow registry - KMTV 3 News Now Omaha - December 17th, 2022
- Stem Cell Technologies and Applications Market Report 2022-2032 - Yahoo Finance - December 9th, 2022