Hi my name is Katie Ichiho, I am 15 years old and I have Leukemia. I found out I had it on February 17th, 2012. I am a freshman in high school, I like to play soccer, run track and cross country. I was really scared at first when I found out I had cancer, but with all the love and support from my family and friends I know I can get through this. Like my dad said, this is not going to be an easy journey. Its going to be a bumpy road with a lot of good days, but also some really bad ones too. I just have to keep my head high, and remember this is the only way to get better.I know I am strong enough, and I can defeat this disease. I just have to believe I can. :)
*** UPDATE ***
On Friday, July 13, 2012, Katie was given a secondary diagnosis. At that time it was determined that Katie had not only ALL leukemia, but also CML leukemia. With the secondary diagnosis and the determination that Katie was considered 'biphenotipic', Katie's course of treatment changed. We were informed by the doctors that chemotherapy alone would not cure Katie and that she would in fact need a bone marrow transplant.
Katie's dad, brother, and I immediately were tested to determine if we would be a suitable donor for Katie. Unfortunately, we were all not adequate matches for Katie.
On August 7, 2012, we visited the BMT doctors at UCSF - Benioff Children's Hospital. We had a really good meeting with the doctors and they informed us that Katie's diagnosis was pretty unusual and rare. It was on this day that we signed all of the necessary paperwork to begin our formal search on the National Bone Marrow Registry.
After a few months of searching a match was found. AMEN! This match was a 9 out of 10 match and was found on the International Registry. This wonderful donor from Italy agreed to provide his stem cells for our daughter.
On Monday, November 12, 2012, Katie was admitted at UCSF - Benioff Children's Hospital in the BMT unit. Over the next several days Katie underwent her preparation therapy for the transplant, which included TBI radiation and high dose chemotherapy.
On Tuesday, November 20, 2012, Katie received her bone marrow transplant and celebrated her NEW second birthday. After 5 weeks in the hospital and a lot of praying, Katie was released. Katie is still recovering from her BMT and will continue to do so for the next 6 mos to a year. The doctors informed us that it will be 3 to 5 years before we can call Katie cured. For now we are so happy to have her home and to have her doing relatively well after the transplant. We realize that we have a long road ahead of us, however each day is a gift and we will take things one day at a time.
