CelebratingLife After TransplantThe Blood andMarrow Transplantand CellularTherapy team at MUSCHollings Cancer Centercelebrated a big milestonethis summer — more than3,000 patients treatedsince the program offeredthe first transplants inSouth Carolina in 1987.“It was honestly reallyscary at first becausethey say it's a rareintestinal cancer thatI have,” Golden said.“But they put it all inperspective for us like,‘Hey, this is what theplan is. You’re young.You’re otherwise veryhealthy; we see youdoing well.’”Blood and bone marrowKennedy Golden“They told us the wholetransplants — sometimesoverarching plan tocalled stem cell transplantsget to this bone marrow transplant, and they called it the— can be lifesaving for people with different types of bloodsledgehammer — like chemo is this little nail, and thecancers. They’re also used for diseases like sickle cell anemiasledgehammer is the bone marrow transplant that’s going toand aplastic anemia, known as bone marrow failure.knock it out,” she said.For patient Kennedy Golden, 23, the transplant is a new start.Golden had six rounds of chemotherapy in Columbia as herAfter “a year of tummy trouble,” Golden was admitted to a hospitaltreatment plan progressed toward the stem cell transplant.in Columbia when, at the end of a workday, she was overcomewith pain. There, she learned her bowel had ruptured.“I felt so much better. Even being in the throes ofchemotherapy was better than the tummy trouble I’d beenThey performed a biopsy and a week later, Golden learned shedealing with,” she said. “It's very refreshing to feel normal,had intestinal T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkineven with things out of whack.”lymphoma, which prompted her oncologist in Columbia torefer her to Hollings.She then began to prepare for the stem cell transplant.14HOLLINGS HORIZONS Winter 2025
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