Patient Update / Camilla


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Camilla's Story


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	Learn more about Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and treatment at St. Jude.

Camilla – California
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

Camilla was only 9 years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and began treatment at a hospital near her home in McKinleyville, California, a town 285 miles north of San Francisco. She was treated with the ALL protocol for standard risk patients. Initially, Camilla responded well to the treatment; however, her blood counts soon began to drop to a dangerous level. A rare enzyme deficiency meant that Camilla could not process standard chemotherapy effectively.

Ten months after beginning treatment at her local hospital, Camilla relapsed. Her doctors could not agree on a course of treatment and consulted St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. When three doctors at St. Jude agreed on a protocol developed specifically for Camilla, her family traveled 2,000 miles to Memphis for treatment.

Camilla found it extremely difficult to transition from one hospital to another and to be so far from home, family and friends and her beloved cat. Still, the family’s hardship was lessened because St. Jude pays fully for lodging, food and travel for patients and their families.

According to Camilla’s mom, Rema, the financial and housing support provided by St. Jude and their donors made it possible for their family to get through the extraordinary non-medical burdens of Camilla’s treatment. While undergoing treatment at St. Jude, doctors determined that since Camilla wasn’t tolerating chemotherapy well, she would need a Bone Marrow Transplant. Against the odds, her only sibling, John, turned out to be an exact marrow match. The transplant was successful, and Camilla was 100 percent engrafted with donor cells after just a few weeks.

Camilla has completed treatment, and Rema believes that it was St. Jude’s wealth of experience and cutting-edge techniques that allowed Camilla’s treatment to be successful.

Camilla returns to St. Jude monthly for routine check-ups.

Update
April 30, 2007
After a long battle against cancer, Camilla passed away with her family by her side. Camilla amazed everyone with her spirit and determination, not only to defeat cancer, but to live life to the fullest each and every day. Her love of life, family and hope will always inspire those who knew her.