Alyssa May Miller

It has been just over 6 Months since the 'Friends of Alyssa' Benefit night, so we thought it was about time that we gave aanother update on Alyssa’s Progress. But 1st we would like to thank every one of you who attended the benefit night back in November 2010 or donated to the 'Friends Of Alyssa' charity. Unfortunately at this stage we are unable to advise the exact figure raised from all the 'Friends of Alyssa' fundraising as we are yet to receive any of the funds.

Now back to Alyssa. As you are aware, Alyssa was diagnosed with Infantile Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in August 2010 at the age of just 10 months, after around 8 months of chemotherapy, her medical team concluded that the chemo was not working and the only option was a bone marrow (Stem cell) transplant. On the 11th April 2011 Alyssa was placed  into medical isolation, at the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick, in preparation for her bone marrow transplant which took place on 21 April 2011 (Classed as ‘Day 0’).

The transplant grafted on May 5th 2011 (‘Day 14’), and on the 8th June 2011 (‘Day48’) Alyssa was discharged from full-isolation in the Sydney Children’s Hospital to semi-isolation at Ronald McDonald House, however her immune system will remain suppressed for a varying period of time and will remain closely monitored.

The "100 Day mark", which is 100 days post-transplant, is generally considered a milestone - by this time patients are considered past the worst of the procedure and on the path to recovery. Full recovery is slow, with it taking up to 2 years for the patient to return to full heath.