Blood Drives Keep Hope Alive For Tot

Two-and-a-half-year-old Peter GerardWissemann faces the kind of challenge that would try any adult, let alone atoddler.
Nicknamed P.G. by his friends andfamily, Peter was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia when he was only ninemonths old. In and out of hospitals for nearly two years, Peters family hashad to sit by and watch helplessly as their sons condition deteriorateddaily. Time may be running out on finding a cure for P.G.
And now, he needs your help.
Peters parents, Matthew andRonnie, have put out a message to all who can hear their call. P.G. has onlythree possible hopes for survival. Initially they had looked toward either abone marrow or blood transplant, but these now seem unlikely. Although thesearch for donors continues feverishly, with a number of blood drives plannedfor later this week, Wissemanns best hope for survival now rests on theumbilical-cord blood of a newborn baby.
"Blood from a newbornsumbilical cord and placenta, referred to as cord blood, is an excellent sourceof stem cells, which can restore the bone marrow of patients with leukemia andother diseases of the marrow," states an article in the October 1997edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to the study, blood fromthe umbilical cord, which is always discarded at birth, may successfully be usedin transplantation, even if bone marrow fails. Several programs across the worldare now developing cord blood banks where the blood from the umbilical cord iscollected at birth and transferred to a core blood bank. Through these banks, itmay be possible to identify donors for patients needing transplants who lackgenetically compatible, adult marrow or blood donors.
"I am just looking for thelight at the end of the tunnel," said Matthew Wissemann, PG.s father, aformer administrator at St. Josephs Hospital in Flushing.
Diagnosed with acute myeloidleukemia (AML), P.G. has become quite accustomed to hospital life, spending over110 days in and out of medical facilities. Due to a series of intensechemotherapy sessions, which robbed the youngster of his hair, the debilitatingdisease eventually went into remission.
But last December, hope and optimismwere replaced with desperation, as Peters condition came out of remission.P.G. has had to return to chemotherapy, although doctors say the treatment canbe nothing more than a temporary solution.
"He will not live much longerwithout going back in remission," said Stephen E. Phelps, public relationsdirector for Catholic Medical Centers.
P.G. has refused to let hiscondition get the better of him."Except for the hair, by looking at him,you wouldnt even know that anything was wrong with him," said Wissemann."Hes in his terrible twos and has a great amount of energy. But, hedoesnt really understand whats gong on."
Currently at home in New Jersey,waiting for the blood match that would return him to the hospital, P.G.ssurvival could rest in the hands of the public.
For a transplant to be possible, adonor whose bone marrow or blood matches P.G.s must be found. Throughout lastweek and continuing this week, the National Marrow Donor Program has beenconducting drives at some of the Catholic Medical Centers facilities in searchof a match. For a bone marrow transplant to succeed, six criteria in as manycategories must match. However, for the transfusion involving the umbilical cordblood to work, all six criteria are not always needed.
Once the sample is donated, theblood is put in registry of potential matches. With 4 million people currentlyin the donor registry, the intention of these blood drives is to open the listof candidates to as many people as possible. All donations are voluntary,although donors must be above the age of 18, and be in good health.
Due to the rarity of P.G.sillness, the chances of a match remain slim.
But P.G. and his family refuse togive up hope.