Aedan’s back after marrow transplant

Four-year-old Aedan Gregory Sablan Duldalao is doing “amazingly well” after a successful bone-marrow transplant in Arizona.

Audrey Jo Sablan, daughter of Ronald D. Sablan, in an e-mail to Saipan Tribune, said she and her husband, Mario Duldalao, hugged, cried, and thanked God for their son’s successful transplant at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona.

“Mario, Kallan [their other son], and myself are thrilled to have our boy home and we can now slowly have our lives back,” Sablan said.

She said doctors did a bone-marrow biopsy to see just how well Aedan was accepting the cord-blood transplant.

The doctors, she said, found 100 percent new healthy cells, which is more than they expected.

“None of Aedan’s cells were present so that means no more leukemia!” Sablan said.

Sablan, a native of Saipan, met her husband, Mario Duldulao, in Las Vegas. They have two sons—Aedan and 1-year-old Kallan.

Aedan was only 18 months old in 2005 when he was diagnosed with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is cancer of the blood-forming tissues known as the bone marrow.

October 2008 was supposed to be the end of the boy’s agonizing chemotherapy treatment, but the leukemia had relapsed and was found to be even more aggressive.

An extensive search for a match in the National Donor Registry and the Cord-blood Donor Registry found three cord-blood matches.

In November 2008, Sablan’s clan on Saipan organized a fundraising at the Pacific Islands Club for Aedan. The event received an outpouring of support from family members, friends, community members, and businesses.

On Christmas Eve of 2008, Aedan underwent the bone-marrow transplant. He was discharged last Jan. 24 and has had daily appointments, including weekends that last four to six hours long. The post-transplant visits are expected to last for a few months. Doctors at UMC Hospital in Tucson, Arizona will need to see Aedan once a month even after the family returns to Las Vegas.

Sablan said Aedan has a 90-percent chance of remaining in remission for a year.

“After that it means he is cured! Happy tears I tell you!” Sablan said.

She said Kallan loves having his brother back home.

“He rubs Aedan’s smooth head, gives hugs, follows Aedan around, or just smile and stares at him. It’s so cute and endearing to watch,” Sablan added.

“I would like to say thank you and God bless to everyone who has included my family most especially Aedan in their thoughts and prayers. This just goes to show how miracles can happen when you never lose faith”, she said.