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Health & Fitness

Half Match Bone Marrow Transplant Recipient Gives Back to Leukemia Society

At age 25, Chris Kobela received the phone call that he never wanted to receive again. His battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, ALL, had returned.

Chris Kobela, of Salisbury Township, was a healthy young man attending Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and competing on their Division 1 Men's swimming team. After not feeling himself, a visit to his doctor with subsequent blood work gave Chris and his family the devastating news that he was suffering from leukemia. After a normal course of chemotherapy, Chris went into remission and resumed a somewhat normal life.

After graduation, Chris began his career as the season-ticket Sales Executive for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ice hockey team. He purchased a car, rescued a dog, and moved to the Kingston area.

At age 25, Chris Kobela received the phone call that he never wanted to receive again. His battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, ALL, had returned. Chris was re-diagnosed through a Bone Marrow Biopsy; this test result brought Chris' world to a shocking halt.

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Battling cancer his second time, Chris returned to the Lehigh Valley to receive more intense chemotherapy treatments. These treatments did put Chris back into remission, but he needed a bone marrow transplant to replace the bone marrow that Chris lost in the process of chemotherapy.

For months, Chris and his parents waited for a bone marrow match. A full match, from either a family member or a donor was Chris' best chance at recovery. But after an exhaustive four month search on the National Donor Registry, a match was not found.

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Chris, with his parents, Ted and Geri, traveled to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and met with Dr. Neal Flomenberg of the Kimmel Cancer Center. Dr. Flomenberg was the lead researcher on a "half-match" bone marrow transplant procedure. The Half-Match Bone Marrow or stem cell transplant for blood cancer patients is a unique two step process which produces promising results.

First, patients endure radiation therapy with a specified dose of T cells (a type of immune cell that fights infection) from their half-matched family donor. In Chris' case, his mother, Geri became that donor. The transplant took place on April 19, 2012. Afterwards, Chris remained hospitalized for a four week grueling recovery. That followed by a recovery at home where he was limited in his activity.

Today, however, Chris Kobela is cancer-free, growing his dark brown hair back and gaining some much needed weight. He has returned to the Kingston, PA area and working full-time, again for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Anyone who knows Chris would not be surprised that Chris is compelled to give back. Last year, through the Penguins Hockey Team, Chris raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as well as the Angel 34 Network.

This weekend, Chris will be walking with some of his co-workers in the 2012 Northeast Light the Night Walk, held at Nay Aug Park in Scranton. The annual two mile walk is organized by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Light the Night Walk is a way for cancer patients, cancer survivors, and loved ones to pay tribute to those lives touched by cancer, to honor those we have lost, and to celebrate those lives that have been saved.

To make a donation, visit http://www.lightthenight.org/. Or visit Chris' page at http://pages.lightthenight.org/lv/Scranton12/WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins

I gave to Chris and to honor all those with blood cancers. Won't you support his battle against leukemia?

Healthy Regards,

~Diane and Westfield Hospital

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