Maddy’s brave recovery after stem cell transplant
The three-year-old has been given a new lease on life with hopes for a bright future and healthy life.
In a beautiful story of courage and hope, a young girl recently received a life-saving stem cell transplant, giving her and her family renewed hope.
Maddy Chesworth, who has just celebrated her third birthday on July 28, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of three months in November 2021.
Finding a suitable donor was a race against time as the Chesworth family was told that Maddy’s only hope of living a full and happy life, was a stem cell transplant. Fortunately, a match was found through the help of DKMS Africa in October 2023, and the transplant took place on May 29. The procedure, though risky, was Maddy’s lifeline.
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“We are grateful to DKMS Africa for helping us find her match and the selfless donor for going under to remove the stem cells directly from her bone marrow. We are also thankful to Dr Bennett and the whole transplant team for getting her to this point,” remarks Maddy’s mother, Allessandra.
“The evening of the transplant was a bit of a struggle with all the side effects, such as a rash on her body, extreme tummy pain and fever. All these symptoms are completely normal after the transplant but Maddy was monitored to prevent any of the side effects from getting worse. It’s been scary to watch how the body reacts to foreign cells,” says Allessandra.
She says that bacteria was picked up in Maddy’s blood on day 10 post-transplant, but luckily her doctors had put her on the right antibiotics and it seemed to be preventing anything from getting too serious.
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On June 6 Maddy was back home and her mother says she has been doing so well since being home.
“She went for her weekly tests and her white blood cell count has stabilised without the stimulants. Her new stem cells have finally settled and the doctor is so happy that instead of the three days a week checks, she only has to come in once a week for checks,” Allessandra elaborates.
She added that Maddy’s blood results improve weekly, indicating that her bone marrow is healing and improving with each visit.
“With Maddy doing so well, Dr Bennett has permitted her to go to quieter areas, which we will do. She enjoyed her visit to the botanical garden, and we hope to go for our early morning hot chocolate outings soon,” Allessandra concluded.
