By: Laura Lane
For the past six months, life hasn't been easy for the Stauder family.
Last summer, after returning from an idyllic family vacation in Hawaii, the youngest member of the family, second-grader Kirsten, was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia. At the time, her parents, Tim and Linda Stauder, learned that their daughter, who was symptom-free, would need a bone marrow transplant in order to be cured. They were also told that they had only six months to find a match.
Kirsten was immediately registered with the National Bone Marrow Association through Schneider-s Hospital, and after a long search, a match was found.
With the help of the community and friends, the Stauders held two bone marrow blood-testing drives, the last one in October at the East Meadow Fire Department. However, they didn-t find a donor. But recently the National Bone Marrow Association contacted the Stauders with the good news.
Although the Stauders believed that finding the donor was an answer to a prayer, their cause for celebration was short-lived. On their way to the hospital, Tim received a call informing him that the donor might have hepatitis. The family was told to go home, and informed that further tests would need to be performed on the donor.
When we told Kirsten she was a little let down, Tim said. Then, the next morning when she woke up, she told my wife and I not to worry. She said she knew she-d be going in [to the hospital] in two weeks. She said God spoke to her.
Tim and Linda were thankful that their daughter had found solace in her faith. Trying to be realistic, however, they realized that the transfusion might not go forward. They made a decision to act on a plan they had been considering if all else failed. Linda made an appointment to go to a fertility specialist.
We-ve been riding a roller coaster. Some days we wouldn-t hear anything, and that-s when we-d think about the fertility option, Tim said. The doctors could work it out so a baby would be a 98 percent match for the bone marrow Kirsten needed, but we-d have to wait nine months for the baby to be born. It-s expensive, and that-s why they don-t usually mention it to you as an option. But we figured we-d already spent $17,000 so far. The money never mattered to us. We-d do anything to get Kirsten healthy.
The day the couple was scheduled to go to the fertility doctor, word arrived that the donor was cleared of hepatitis and the bone marrow transplant could go forward. The family was relieved and put their energy into preparing for the next phase of the process.
In the meantime, there was an outpouring of support from the community. Several families offered to have Kirsten-s 12-year-old brother, Timothy, to stay with them. The East Meadow Little League expressed interest in holding a fund-raiser for the Stauders.
Me and Linda, we-re just blessed, Tim said. All the prayers from all the people, all our friends in the East Meadow community -- it all helped us to get to this next point that we-re going through.
For Kirsten, 7, the journey is only beginning. Last Monday she began intensive radiation and chemotherapy, which she must undergo over a two-week period prior to receiving the transplant. Three weeks after the procedure, she will suffer from mouth sores and rashes. Kirsten will be in the hospital for six to eight weeks. And her recuperation process will take six to seven months once she returns home. If all goes as planned, however, within a year she should be back to normal and entirely leukemia-free.
Linda said her daughter never cries or complains. Both parents describe Kirsten as personable, smart and aggressive. They feel the family will get through the ordeal ahead and rely on their faith. My wife goes to church every morning, Tim said. I tell Linda, we were chosen for this, and I don-t know why. Maybe to get the word out about this disease, I-m not sure. I know that once Kirsten gets the transplant, she-s going to be fine.
