News

20 Annual Reunion

The Colorado Blood Cancer Institute Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at P/SL celebrated its 20th anniversary on October 1 with a reunion party at Wings Over the Rockies. More than 600 patients, caregivers and staff members helped mark two decades since the very first transplant in February, 1991. More than 2000 transplants later, the transplant unit has grown from two to 31 inpatient beds. Our program is the largest in the seven-state region.

”This event is very important for both the BMT team members who get to see patients who are years out from their transplants and thriving as well as for the newly transplanted patients who see those survivors as inspiration for their own journeys,” said Patient Care Director for Cancer Care Services, Tonya Cox, RN, BSN, OCN.

P/SL leads in saving lives through our pioneering transplant program. New national data provide evidence that P/SL patients do better than patients in the state or nationally. In statistics collected for 1998 through 2003, patients diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) at P/SL had a survival rate nearly double the rate for patients in both U.S. and Colorado cancer treatment programs. Multiple myeloma patients treated at P/SL also showed superior survival rates.

“These figures include patients who received their initial diagnosis and treatment at P/SL, not those who were later referred here, for example, for a transplant,” said Colorado Blood Cancer Institute BMT Program Medical Director, Jeffrey Matous, MD. “One cannot draw too precise a conclusion from the data, but we believe that they reflect outcomes which are in general superior due to the fact that we have a dedicated team of subspecialists in blood cancer and transplant.”

Sheila Gannon Story

“Five years brings a lot of healing. I’m back to enjoying the outdoors with my family. I volunteer in my son’s classroom. Sawyer’s already in first grade! I feel great!” Sheila Gannon described herself five years after cheating deadly leukemia, diagnosed during the final stages of her first pregnancy.

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