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Home › Articles › Postpartum Issues › Cord Blood Storage

Cord Blood Storage

Preserving a Lifeline for the Future

By Gwen Morrison

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

According to Paul, cord blood transplants are currently being used to treat diseases in four categories:

  • Malignancies – various forms of leukemia, multiple myeloma, testicular cancer
  • Hemoglobinopathies and blood disorders – sickle cell anemia, Fanconi's anemia, thalassemia
  • Immune deficiencies – severe combined immunodeficiency diseases, chronic granulomatous disease
  • Inborn errors of metabolism – Hurler syndrome, bare-lymphocyte syndrome, Krabbe's disease

The Right Choice
In 1995, Sabine Beach moved into a condominium complex in Hermosa Beach, Calif., unaware at the time how much that decision would change her life. Not only did she meet her husband, who lived in Unit No. 3, but she also met Dr. Dave Newell in Unit No. 4, an ear, nose and throat specialist who practiced in Los Angeles.

"Dr. Newell was young, healthy and full of life," says Beach. "He was also on an uncharted course to become a statistic. Within a year, at the age of 36, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He was admitted to UCLA Medical Center and given a bone marrow transplant from a sister who was a close match."

Beach says that soon after the procedure, Dr. Newell's liver failed, and he immediately went on the liver transplant list. "Thanks to the support and effort of numerous friends, he was awarded a liver and was on his way to recovery," she says. "But his struggle was not over. He began to suffer from Graph vs. Host disease, a side effect of bone marrow transplants. This disease was very degenerative, and it was soon obvious that he may not survive."

Within three years of having his bone marrow transplant, in April 1998, Newell died from complications of a common cold. "During his battle with leukemia, he did numerous amounts of research on his cancer and cancer treatments," says Beach. "As a doctor, he had mass amounts of knowledge in areas that we did not. When we told him we were expecting our first child, he asked if we had considered harvesting the cord blood. We had no knowledge of such a thing."


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