Christ the King holding blood drive

Fourteen-year-old Carly Rose Nieves knows more than most her age.
She knows that ALL stands for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – and she knows that one bag of blood can save three lives.
And that’s why the well-spoken and bright teenager – battling a relapse of ALL herself – is urging that as many people as possible go to Christ the King (CTK) Regional High School on Saturday, December 18 for a community blood drive aimed at saving lives.
Carly’s story began in July 2003 when the Middle Village girl was just seven.
She said she was frequently exhausted, couldn’t participate in gym class, and had a lot of pain.
“She was worn out and had other symptoms,” said her mother Lisa. “We were just hoping it was flu season.”
After testing, Carly was diagnosed with ALL (a cancer of the white blood cells that normally fight infections), received blood transfusions – after which, her mother said, the pain subsided – and underwent two years of intensive chemotherapy in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York.
But because of her intensive treatment, said her mom, Carly – who adores school – missed the second grade at P.S. 58.
After she had finished her treatment, Carly resumed her studies and would go in for routine check-ups and blood work.
“Carly had perfect counts,” said Lisa.
But on December 2, 2008, Carly’s blood work was off. She had suffered a relapse of ALL after three years.
“When she relapsed she was just getting her life back.”
At the time, she was an honor roll student in the 6th grade – and managed to graduate with honors despite “basically living at the hospital because of the high-dose chemotherapy.”
“The relapse was not anything we expected,” said Lisa. “But she’s incredibly strong and brave.”
This relapse and new diagnosis of ALL placed Carly in the high risk category, which requires additional intensive, high dose chemotherapy.
She is currently in remission, on maintenance treatment, which is still aggressive, but means she gets to be home.
“We’re hoping she stays there, because otherwise she’ll need a transfusion,” said Lisa.
She explained that cancer patients may require frequent blood transfusions because aggressive treatment often destroys healthy blood cells along with diseased ones. Red blood cell transfusions to fight anemia and platelet transfusions to control bleeding are often needed.
And that’s why as many people as possible are needed to donate on December 18 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., she said.
In fact, Michael Michele, president of CTK, will be the first to donate.
“He has been nothing but incredibly helpful,” said Lisa. “The school has a bunch of great leaders.”
And the students, too, are pitching in.
They are holding a bake sale, with all profits going to Friends of Karen, an organization that supports critically ill children and their families.
Other area businesses are helping as well – at the blood drive, there will be raffles with prizes donated, including a Schwinn bike, golf at the Forest Park golf course, and more – with the proceeds also going to Friends of Karen.
Since Carly is AB positive, she can accept anyone’s blood.
But more than that, said the girl, who derives her strength from her family, she wants to help others.
She noted the friends she had made in the hospital and how she hopes they can find a match.
Carly, who wants to study hematology and oncology, said for people to go to bethematch.com – a bone marrow registry – to help.
In the meantime, said her mom, “We’re crossing our fingers she’ll be the class of 2015 at Christ the King.”
For more information about becoming a marrow donor, call 1-800-MARROW-2. It’s a simple process that takes just a few minutes of paperwork and a cheek swab.
To learn more about Friends of Karen, go to www.friendsofkaren.org.
And to find out more about the blood drive, on Saturday, December 18 at Christ the King, 68-02 Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, email lhorner67@gmail.com.