Patient Stories

By Julie Peachey, Public Relations Officer We first introduced you to young Hadley in January 2021 when she was just six years old and a year into her treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Hadley had started kindergarten in the fall of 2019 when she began experiencing pain in her legs, causing her to limp and…

By Samantha Baker, Communications Strategist One early morning in 1997, 35-year-old Monterey Peninsula resident Michael V. had difficulty sleeping due to an unusual feeling. “My heart was pounding away as if it was going to come out of my chest,” he said. He called for his wife, who rushed over to him. Michael looked at…

“I’ve been a regular blood donor my whole adult life, and I’ve been humbled to be on the receiving end for a change.”   Amber Kerr is many things. A scholar, a university lecturer, a world traveler, a mother of three, an avid blood donor — and, as of late last year, a blood recipient….

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist Gracielle Lee went into labor with her first and only child, Bryson, when she was just 22 weeks pregnant. At such a critical period, she, her husband Barry and their care team were anxious to delay delivery as long as possible. “Bryson’s likelihood of surviving at 22 weeks was very...

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist Brad Hart is a fifth-generation medical professional and comes from a history of medical innovation. His great, great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Hart, was an OBGYN; his great grandfather, Arch Coombs Hart, was a practicing dentist, and one of the first  to lecture that tooth decay was caused by bacteria; his...

Growing up, Alice Georgitso was no stranger to the healthcare system. At only one month old, she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. Her first closed-heart surgery was performed at four weeks, and her first open-heart surgery was at nine months. By the time she was 20 years old, she had experienced a heart attack…

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist August 5, 2020, was one of the most frightening days of Jennifer Yu’s and Tom Li’s lives. It was on that Wednesday that they found out what had started as just frequent bloody noses in their eight-year-old daughter, Zoe, was a sign of something far scarier and far deadlier than…

Imagine being 23- and 24-year-old parents when you find out your new baby girl needs a liver transplant to save her life. That was the reality for Liz Lopez and her husband Rudy Heredia. It all started just two months after their daughter Penelope was born. Liz took “Penny” in for a routine checkup where...

If you ever met Megan Mehta, you’d be struck almost instantly by her energy, her vivacity. Megan was born with a lust for life and has spent the past five years reclaiming that energy after having spent ages 8 to 13 in a state she can “best describe as the color gray.” Thanks to the…

Childhood: Sister Hearts Carolina Tejada was born in Cali, Colombia in 1978. She spent a happy, healthy childhood alongside her older brother, Juan Guillermo, and her twin sister, Catalina. At age 11, however, Juan Guillermo, who was three years older than his sisters, began experiencing cardiac symptoms that were later diagnosed as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy,…

In 2007, DYung Lu was working full-time, going to school full-time, and getting very little sleep. Given his hectic schedule, he was unsurprised when he started to feel physical ill and worn down, but he continued to press forward. Then one day, he was lying in a hammock and one of the strings broke, sending…

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist In early 2019, Kristi Trog and her husband Josh were thrilled but also surprised to find out that Kristi was pregnant with their first child. The pair counted this news as a true miracle. Though they knew that having a baby later in life would mean they needed to prepare…

It’s hard to believe that for the bulk of 2019, Katy Crain knew very little about cancer. She considered herself lucky to have never had any close family members affected by it, and while she was sympathetic to cancer patients and had donated blood before, the concept seemed removed from her everyday life. All of…

By Lia Adams, guest blogger, Milestone blood donor and plasma recipient Medical Background When I was a kid, we didn’t know I had a primary immune deficiency. All we knew was that I got sick more often than average, sometimes with unusual infections. Nothing life-threatening; I just took a lot more sick days from school than…

This summer, Stanford Blood Center (SBC) and LifeServe Blood Center brought together two very special heroes. Shanti Minkstein, a photographer from San Francisco, California, and Lance Becker, a banker from Des Moines, Iowa, joined a Zoom call to discuss their experiences as COVID-19 survivors. They had never met before, but they share a bond that…

As first-time parents, Kylie De La O-Menard and her husband Guillaume Menard knew that there were many challenges they would have to work through as part of learning to care for a new baby — the exhaustion, the baby’s crying, the frequent nursing. Leading up to the birth of their son Knoll, however, these challenges…

When Teddy Oh was 18 months old, his mother and father, Won and Jin, knew something was not right. Teddy had had a persistent cough, and though his doctors did not think much of it at first, the cough was quickly compounded with additional symptoms, principally lethargy and distention of his stomach. A week after…

In May of 2013, Nicole Porto was thriving in all aspects of life. She had built up a life for herself that she was proud of. Physically, she had been training for the Brooklyn Half Marathon and felt extremely strong; socially, she had a great group of friends in her home of New York; and…

When Rachel Ren* was a junior, she was thrilled at the opportunity to give blood at her high school’s SBC mobile drive. Rachel had never had an experience with blood donation before — never had a family member need blood that she could remember, never needed blood herself — but she felt called to help….

HOW BLOOD DONORS SUPPORTED A 15-YEAR-OLD’S LIVE-SAVING OPEN-HEART SURGERY On October 4, 2014, Nick Farrell* was riding high celebrating a momentous occasion: his 15th birthday. One week later, on October 11, he was grappling with a very different life-altering event: a critical surgery to fix the large hole in his heart. Though Nick and his…

Mother’s Day was this past weekend, and we hope you enjoyed your time with the mothers in your life! Although the day may have passed, we want to continue to appreciate moms all over by taking a moment to celebrate some of the mothers touched by blood donation that we have had the privilege to get…

Every year, 15,780 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer. In fact, according to Children’s Cancer Research Fund, each day, 43 families in the United States will hear that their child has cancer. That’s why we observe September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month – to increase awareness for types of cancer that affect…

Mr. Manmohan (Mohan) Mahal claims it has taken him over twenty years to understand his “journey.” It is because of this journey that he is now driven to give back to the world and inspire others. But first, he needed a change of heart. Born in Amritsar, India, Mohan lived most of his life in New Delhi and…

Robin Beresford has many goals, most of which surround helping others. She is a former nurse, a licensed physician’s assistant, a marriage and family therapist, and is in the process of completing her PhD in Depth Psychology. So several years ago it came as a shock when Robin was the one who needed help. This…

The placenta is an organ essential to nourishing a baby in utero. But for 1 in 333 pregnant women, it can cause a life-threatening complication, placenta accreta, that could lead to fatal hemorrhaging during delivery… as was the case for Alisha Keller-Berry. 19 weeks into her second pregnancy, Alisha received some troubling news. During a…

Kelvin Yu thought it was just an ordinary day. He went to his job as a Project Manager at Kaiser Engineers, left his office, and set out for a lunchtime walk around Lake Merritt. He had no idea that within hours, he would end up in the ICU. He had no idea that this was…

The adventure began soon after their meeting. Carmela and Eric Gries met in 1984 while attending college. Not long after they met and became a couple, they decided to take a year off from school to drive across the country and back. They’ve now been married for 31 years, have three beautiful children, and are…

Magdalena Cabrera knows what it’s like to be on both sides of the equation. She began donating blood with Stanford Blood Center in 1980. She did so knowing the importance of donating blood products when suddenly the tables turned in May 2013 when she was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer called Mucosal…

As girls growing up in Menlo Park, Betsy McBride and her sister used to accompany their father when he donated blood at Stanford Blood Center (SBC). Betsy took the habit to heart, continuing to donate for SBC when she could. But until August 26, she had no idea how much blood donors would one day…

Galen “G” Dahl, 13, is much like any other 7th grader. He loves skiing, math, jumping on his trampoline, video games and his dog, Flash. He is a self-confessed Harry Potter fanatic who enjoys hanging out with his buddies. One would never know just by looking at him that underneath the shirt he wore to…

By Kristin Stankus, digital community and social media specialist         Kendralyn and Cole Morley knew from an early age that they wanted to spend their lives together. Now, 24 years old, Kendralyn and Cole have been friends since they were seven. Both grew up with a passion for hockey and played on…

In 2013, Michael, a recent high school graduate, was excited to start the next chapter in his life. He had applied to a trade school and looked forward to pursuing a career in welding when he came down with what he thought was a bad cold. Unfortunately, it turned out to be much more severe…

Susan attended this year’s Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion where she approached Stanford Blood Center’s information table and asked if she could share her story of survival with blood donors through SBC’s patient stories program. Susan’s story is one of incredible challenges and her will to overcome them. She is a 25-year survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma…

There have been many great advances in medicine over the last few decades. Patients can take comfort in the fact that doctors have more information available to them now than ever before, resulting in an improved quality of patient care. Despite these advances, devastating conditions still occur, and some remain very difficult to treat. One…

Jen Julian, 57, might be the most active person you will ever meet. She golfs, skis, bikes, boats, scuba dives and regularly makes good use of her newly granted pilot’s license. She is without a doubt the epitome of what life can be when given a second chance. Jen was first diagnosed with interstitial lung…

Motorcycle enthusiast Ryan Roberts usually did not ride his motorcycle to his job at Stanford Video. But back in 2004, the Fourth of July fell on a Sunday, and he was supposed to have that Monday off from work. He got called in last minute and was only going to be there for a little while, and…

On June 10, 2014, after a long and complicated labor, baby Alma’s journey began. Her entrance into the world was not an easy one. Nearing the end of mother Amy’s pregnancy, doctors expressed concerns that the baby had stopped growing and determined that labor should be induced. A Pitocin IV drip was started but Alma…

On March 14, Luis Navarro’s daughters carefully took off his blindfold to reveal 50 of his closest friends and family. They were gathered for a surprise birthday party and blood drive to celebrate his 56th birthday. The surprise element wasn’t the only thing that made this birthday memorable: Luis and his family were also celebrating…

Aria is a lively 17-month-old with an infectious smile. One would never guess that she was born an anemic preemie who spent the first month of her life in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH). The odds were stacked against Aria from the beginning, given her mother, Jennifer’s complications with…

At Stanford Blood Center, part of our mission is to connect donors with patients and we enjoy sharing stories and messages of gratitude from blood recipients. Do you ever wonder how those patients are doing today? We’re happy to be able to share updates from three amazing young recipients. Brennah was seven years old when…

Timena, whose name means ‘beautiful,’ in her native language, Samoan, is embarking on a mission to match her name. She wants to help ensure that the next time someone with her unusual blood type needs a transfusion, a donor will be ready. As a child, Timena was a sporty and energetic soccer devotee. But by age…

By Julie Peachey In November 2000, Dawn Billman, her husband, George, and their three young daughters were looking forward to a Thanksgiving weekend full of feasts, visits from out-of-town family, and a birthday celebration for grandma. But the day before the big holiday, Dawn received an unexpected call from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH). It…

Chris’s yearly family trip to Disneyland in February of 2012 took him far from the happiest place on earth as he found himself, instead, in the hospital. After experiencing nausea, shortness of breath, and difficulty walking distances, Chris was eventually diagnosed with an enlarged heart, which was pumping at 13%. He was soon transferred to…

By Deanna Bolio, Communications Specialist, Stanford Blood Center Lexi loves to dance. From hip-hop to ballet, she loves it so much that she might take up to 13 dance classes in a week. The ongoing blood transfusions Lexi receives to treat sickle cell anemia give her the energy she needs to leap, turn, and spin…

By Winter Johnson, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Michele Hyndman, Stanford Blood Center A month before her 14th birthday in November 2011, Taylor was enjoying a normal teenage life in Watsonville, Calif., when she was hit with sudden, flu-like symptoms that turned into vomiting blood. She was rushed to a local hospital and then taken by ambulance to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital,…

On June 6, 2011, Melissa and her husband, Tim, and 3-year-old son, Flynn, welcomed twin boys, Keane and Hayes, into their family. Melissa’s pregnancy and delivery had been normal. The twins were healthy and together weighed over 14 pounds which is considered big for twins. After a typical recovery period, Melissa went home to care for her family. “To me, my family was perfect and complete,” she said.

Casey Rockey was born with supravalvular aortic stenosis, a rare heart condition that causes a narrowing of his aortic valve at the opening. He required beta blockers for a year to manage his stenosis and tachycardia and, at age three and a half, it was time for open-heart surgery.

In 1989, just six months after marrying my young bride, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. My wife and I were thrust into the world of cancer, and we watched our hopes and dreams shatter in an instant. At twenty-six years of age, I was told by doctors at the City of Hope National Medical Center that my prognosis was “poor.” But after nearly a year and a half of intensive chemotherapy, brain radiation, bone marrow biopsies and countless other procedures, I emerged on the other side of my disease, in remission and thankful for the blessing of each new day.

As Jennifer Flowers sat in a hospital bed on January 8, 2010, she would have much rather been on a beach on one of the tropical islands she preferred to frequent. Walking through the surf on a sandy beach in Hawaii, the Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua, Bermuda, or Jamaica during one of her vacations was her idea of living. But that day, she was receiving a bone marrow transplant at Stanford Hospital that would keep her alive.

Mike Wu was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) in January, 2003, after complain- ing to his doctor about persistent abdominal pain. It was one week before his wed- ding. He began taking a laundry list of prescribed medications that compromised his immune system; he lost about 30 pounds. He and his fiance, Jennifer, postponed the wedding so Mike could get better.

Pulmonary hypertension, overriding aorta, and pulmonary atresia are a few of the health obstacles in little Maddie’s life. She has undergone 11 procedures, including three open-heart surgeries, to correct her cardiovascular defects and has received the lifesaving gift of blood with each of her surgeries.

I will never forget how stunned I was when I got an email from Karen on March 5, 2009 to announce her son‘s arrival. It started “Quinn Frederick Bossow was born on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, he is in extremely critical condition at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.” I immediately visited the blog she had created to keep family and friends updated on his condition.