Colin Flood (right) had a bone marrow transplant on July 19, which aims to cure the leukemia he was diagnosed with in December 2011. His father, Kevin, (middle) hopes to have him back at their Middle Village home by the end of the month. File photo.
Just seven months after being diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, Colin Flood has found the match he needs to possibly cure his disease.
Back on July 19, Colin went to the hospital and received a long- awaited bone marrow transplant, according to his father, Kevin Flood.
Kevin and his wife Jennifer were elated that a match was found for their son.
“We were ecstatic. Absolutely ecstatic,” said Kevin, who has the family home in Middle Village. “There are many kids that go the whole time without finding matches so we were just happy to find a match.”
He said that they do not know much information about the individual who donated the bone marrow. They only know that it’s a 22 year old male from somewhere in the United States.
According to Kevin, the identity of the donor is kept a secret for privacy reasons, but if both sides agree, they can meet one year after the surgery date. He added that the reason for this is to make sure that everything goes well for both sides after the surgery.
“I hope to meet him, I’m looking forward to meeting him,” Kevin said.
Before they got the news about the bone marrow match, the Floods were getting worried about if there would be any match for Colin. Kevin said that two weeks after the February bone marrow drive, they were told that there was no match for Colin out of the people that swabbed at the event.
The news of the match came as a relief to the Floods, but they first had to overcome a few hurdles to get to the day of receiving the transplant.
They found out about the match a few months prior to July 19, but the insertion had to be delayed due to liver problems that Colin developed from the chemotherapy.
Once that subsided, he then had to undergo eight days of intense radiation and chemotherapy, four days for each, to destroy whatever bone marrow he had left in his body.
Colin has been recovering in the hospital since the surgery. Kevin said that he is progressing very well and has already started reproducing white blood cells, which helps in rebuilding his immune system. He also said that doctors have told him Colin could be home as early as two weeks. He so far has not had any negative reaction to the transplant.
“Knock on wood,” Kevin said as he knocked on a wooden chair next to the basement couch.
He is hopeful that Colin will continue to have no aftereffects.
“90-something percent they’re going to get some sort of a reaction and he has had none,” he said.
As for the family’s finances, Kevin said that he is aware that the medical bills are piling up. They have gotten donations from organizations such as the Friends of Karen Foundation and the Michelle O’Neill Foundation, who have been helping with the medical co-pays. He said that he’ll worry about dealing with the finances after Colin gets better.
“It adds up, but I’m not worried about that until he comes home,” Kevin said.
By Luis Gronda
