St. Patrick’s Day on March 17 may be a day for the luck of the Irish, but March 7 may be considered even luckier for Wilton 9-year-old Anna Getner and her family. That’s the day they heard the GOOD news that Anna does not need a bone marrow transplant.
“We’re pretty darn excited, I’m not gonna lie,” said Anna’s soon-to-be step-father, John Schiaroli.
We spoke to him last Friday, just an hour or so after the family received the incredible news from doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where Anna and her family had gone to seek additional opinions. The Cider Mill fourth grader had been diagnosed with leukemia in November, and her doctors in Westchester had said her only hope was a bone marrow transplant.
In what Schiaroli is calling a “serendipitous bit of bad luck,” their health insurer recently denied coverage at the Valhalla, NY hospital where Anna had been undergoing treatment since her November diagnosis. “The appeals were denied but they gave us names of facilities we could go to. One was Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the number one hospital in the country for children’s cancer care.”
Just over one week ago, Anna’s local doctors were reporting that the number of cancer cells in her blood were on the rise, and they planned to start Anna on another heavy course of chemo starting Friday, March 7. Simultaneously, the doctors in Cincinnati had started reviewing Anna’s records and charts, but they saw something different. They encouraged Anna, her mom Heather Iafrate and Schiaroli to come to Ohio for more tests. So Tuesday, March 4, that’s what they did, piling into the car to head west.
In Cincinnati, the trio met with the head of the bone marrow transplant program and the lead oncologist. Anna had to undergo a bone marrow aspiration, and the results were run through the labs there. On Friday–the same day Anna would have been beginning aggressive chemo–the doctor told them this:
“‘Absolutely, positively, there is no minimal residual disease (MRD) in Anna.’ Even evaluating all the past records, while Anna was diagnosed correctly [in November] and they started treatment correctly, where there was a disconnect and a misdiagnosis was when they looked at it on day 30 [after diagnosis] and they said they saw MRD. At that point, she really had none, and the doctors in NY were seeing something else,” Schiaroli explained.
Focusing only on the good news that she’s in remission, with no cancer cells–rather than whether there was misdiagnosis–is where the family is looking. But the news doesn’t mean she’s completely out of the woods yet. The family will head back east and Anna’s further treatment will happen at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC.
“Anna will go back on what’s referred to as the standard ALL protocol, the two-years-three-months plan we started in the beginning. She will still undergo some chemotherapy treatments, but not as aggressive. Now that she’s in remission, it’s all about, ‘How do we treat you so this never comes back?’ And now she’s back to the 90-95 percent chance of being cured.”
And how did Anna feel about the news? “She’s in remission. She’s as happy as a clam,” Schiaroli related.
He said that they all were ecstatic with what is really amazing news, especially knowing how much Wilton is right there with them. “We are so thankful to live where we live.”
It’s also important to recognize that the outpouring of support shown through both the bone marrow donation drive as well as financial donations haven’t been in vain. The family will still incur costs related to continued medical treatment, and the awareness raised–as well as new registrants on the national marrow registry–is just as significant.
“Anna is our number one focus, but for the greater good, other people still need help,” Schiaroli added.
Note: The picture that accompanies this article was supplied by Anna’s family, and was chosen with Anna’s input.