Kelsey's Dream

Hi, I’m Kelsey Kuhns. I will be 11 years old on October 8th. I have one sister, Kylie, who is 7, and my mom and dad, are Tina and Lynn Kuhns. I was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia a month before my 5th birthday. For 2 ½ years, I went through Chemotherapy at Geisinger. After I completed my 2 ½ years of treatment, I was off treatment for 2 ½ years and then relapsed when I was 9 years old. Usually if you are going to relapse, 90% of patients relapse the first year off of treatment. I was doing very well and feeling great. My family and I would have never thought I would have relapsed. Because I relapsed, my doctors suggested that I have a Stem Cell Transplant. My sister, Kylie was tested to see if she could be my donor. To be a donor you need to have at least 3 of 6 matching antigens. Kylie had all 6 matching antigens. A Stem Cell Transplant is very successful if it is a sibling match and a same sex match. Kylie and I were even the same blood type. She was a big help and was very proud to help me. We were lucky because only 20% of siblings are a match. I had my Stem Cell Transplant at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Prior to the transplant I had Radiation at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and then Chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The chemo