Dany Mercado's family is elated that the Michigan health system
let their son take a chance on an imperfect match for a bone-marrow
transplant.
The 25-year-old Kitchener man had a successful transplant at the
Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit on Jan. 15.
The family turned to the Michigan hospital after failing to find
a suitable donor in Canada. This country insists on perfect matches
for surgery performed here. "It proves that it can work,'' Mercado's
father, Luis, said yesterday.
The Mercados spent Easter weekend at the U.S. hospital and Dany
moved to an apartment near the hospital on Monday. Doctors want to
monitor his condition for another month.
Luis Mercado said he's glad the American health system gave his
son a chance. "How many people have died because they didn't have a
perfect match?''
Dany was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2002,
when he was 19. In the last six years, he has had many bouts of
chemotherapy and experienced remission. The family conducted an
exhaustive search for a donor whose bone marrow matched perfectly.
OHIP agreed to pay more than $200,000 for the cost of the
transplant.
Luis Mercado said his son could be home as early as next month.
