Fairlane's Bone Marrow Transplant Story

Fairlane Pastera, 46 years old, is a strong, independent, and amiable woman. She works as a Quality Assurance Analyst in a multinational beverage corporation. She is hardworking, lives alone and does all the household chores by herself.

When she started experiencing chest and back pains two years ago, she thought she had a heart ailment. Her doctor recommended an angiogram which disputed this. Fairlane was not suffering from any heart condition. The next step was to check her blood. She was then referred to a hematologist because of her anemia - a condition that develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin.

In August 2016, Fairlane had a series of tests which led to the diagnosis of multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell. The plasma cell helps fight infections by making antibodies that recognize and attack germs. Multiple myeloma causes cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow where they crowd out healthy blood cells.

"When I learned about my condition, I could not help but cry. I asked the doctor what I should do," said Fairlane.

"I am not a religious person but I prayed and cried out to God for healing. I want to live a long life," she added.

She started her first of six cycles of chemotherapy on Aug 27, her birthday. After her chemotherapy, her hematologist referred her to a fellow hematologist Dr. Alma Calavera, who is also a bone marrow transplant doctor at The Medical City (TMC). She met Dr. Calavera in December 2016 at TMC's Institute of Personalized Molecular Medicine or IPMM. The IPMM is a unit of The Medical City focused on the delivery of personalized molecular medicine treatments.

Dr. Calavera explained to Fairlane what bone marrow transplant is and why it is the standard of care for many people with hematologic cancers and other blood disorders.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Dr. Calavera cited the two types of stem cell transplant -- autologous and allogeneic. For an autologous stem cell transplant, the patient’s own stem cells are removed from his bone marrow or peripheral blood before the transplant. The cells are stored until they are needed for the transplant. For a patient with multiple myeloma like Fairlane, the stored stem cells are infused back into her blood after she completes high-dose chemotherapy treatment. This type of transplant is a standard treatment for patients with multiple myeloma.

In an allogeneic stem cell transplant, the patient gets blood-forming stem cells from another person – the donor. The best treatment results occur when the donor’s cells are closely matched to the patient’s cell type and the donor is closely related to the patient, such as a brother or sister. Allogeneic transplant is usually done for acute leukemias and other hematologic malignancies.

Fairlane knew that with bone marrow transplant, there is hope for her condition and with Dr. Calavera and her other TMC doctors and nurses, she is in good hands.

On March 2, 2017, she was supposed to undergo bone marrow transplant but she had cough and colds at that time. Dr. Calavera advised that the procedure be postponed until she was well enough to do it.

Fairlane underwent bone marrow transplant on March 15, 2017. She is among the 18 patients who underwent the life-saving procedure at the TMC-IPMM since last year. Fairlane's team of doctors also included hematologist Dr. Norma Ona, nutritionist Dr. Marianne Sioson, Infectious Disease specialist Dr. Cybele Abad, and nephrologist Dr. Ronald Perez.

Fairlane said she wants to give credit not only to her doctors but also to the nurses who took care of her. She knew taking care of a bone marrow transplant patient like her is complicated and requires additional set of skills and knowledge about side effects, treatment administration and intensive care, to name a few.

“The nurses were very understanding. Naging tropa ko nga sila e (they actually became my friends). We ate lunch together in my hospital room. Even until now, we go out and check on each other via text messages," Fairlane said. One time, one of the nurses brought her home because she was too weak to travel alone.

She was discharged from the hospital on April 17 and was back to work by the first week of May.

Fairlane had consolidated chemotherapy sessions which ended in September. While she was undergoing cycles of chemotherapy, she would work from Monday to Friday then get admitted Friday night to Sunday for the regimen. Since she is living alone, she commutes by herself via bus.

She confessed that there were days when being an independent woman took its toll. She is usually strong and capable of taking care of herself. Instead of being sorry for herself, Fairlane realized she still had a lot to be thankful for.

"I am lucky for so many reasons − my company health benefits were enough to cover my hospital expenses, I was able to return to work a few weeks after my bone marrow transplant, I feel a lot better now, and I've found a new family in TMC," said Fairlane.

"Basta sa TMC at home ako. The nurses there are now my good friends. Dr. Calavera and Dr. Ona were both caring and efficient," she added.

Fairlane goes to TMC-IPMM once a month for consultation with Dr. Calavera and for health monitoring. Currently, she is still in complete remission. She is too glad to say that after all she went through, she is now a better person, in mind, body and spirit.

The IPMM is a unit of The Medical City focused on the ethical delivery of personalized molecular medicine treatments. The backbone of the IPMM is Regenerative Medicine, a revolutionary field involving the engineering of cells and other biomaterials with the goals of restoring organ function lost or impaired due to disease or injury, and improving the quality of life.For appointments and inquiries, please call TMC-IPMM at (632) 988 1000 / (632) 988 7000 loc 6307 / 6551, or visit www.themedicalcity.com.