GVHD
My niece was discharged from the hospital today. She was admitted last Friday for high fever, which turned out to be a reaction to the bone marrow transplant she received five months ago in Perth.
It turns out she is only now showing signs of the GVHD (Graft-versus-host-disease) that was supposed to manifest itself during the first 100 days after a bone marrow transplant. It got me worried as it is almost five months since her transplant. Was it unusual? Does she face additional risks getting the disease beyond the stipulated time frame?
I emailed my concerns to the Malaysian Medical Resources web site. Within 24 hours, I received an email that a reply had been posted on the web site.
The reply included a link for further reading about GVHD.
I found the article very useful as it helped to further identify the specific GVHD areas that my niece is suffering from, and what precautions are required.
Sometimes, it’s difficult to concentrate on what the doctors are saying at the moment we hear what is wrong (worry gets in the way). Having articles to read up later helps tremendously, particularly when such information is readily available on the Net.
I will never stop marvelling at how the Internet has changed lives for the better. Of course, there’s the other side of the coin to consider, too, but that’s not the subject of this post.
Meanwhile, public acknowledgement to Dr Alan Teh aka palmdoc for his speedy reply, and for being on my niece’s medical team.
Thanks, Doc.
