Mt. Washington family affected by childhood cancer shares impact of bone marrow transplants

MT. WASHINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Mt. Washington couple said bone marrow transplants saved their son's life, ad they want others to know they can help save more lives.

Seth Walsh, now 7 years old, had just turned 4 when he was diagnosed with leukemia on Dec. 26, 2018. His mother, Michelle Walsh, said she took Seth to the doctor for what was believed to just be a rash. Instead, the visit ended with Seth being rushed to Norton Children's Hospital.

Walsh said doctors realized his white blood cell count was about 20 times higher than what it was supposed to be. Within an hour, she said, he was diagnosed with leukemia.

"They just explained that the bruising was because of how many white blood cells were in there," said Trevor Walsh, Seth's father. "It basically makes the blood so thick that it's literally, like, bursting at the seams. So that's why they had to rush him, and any kind of bump or bruise that could start the bleeding could be real bad."

Michelle and Trevor Walsh said they were shocked to learn their son, the youngest of their three boys, had cancer, saying he didn't show any other signs or symptoms of feeling sick.

Since then, Seth has relapsed four times. He's been through several rounds of chemotherapy, multiple hospital stays, two bone marrow transplants and, not long ago, began taking part in a clinical trial.

"Right now, as far as we know, he is in remission from a clinical trial we just did at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia," Michelle Walsh said.

But Seth's family also credits bone marrow transplants for helping save his life and getting him where he is today: a first-grader with plans to play soccer in the fall. Seth is also a member of the Bellarmine Knight's basketball team, where he'll get to be with the team at practices and games this season. He's a huge WWE fan and loves Star Wars.

Since Seth's diagnosis, he's gained a team of doctors spanning from Louisville to Cincinnati to Philadelphia.

"In bone marrow transplants, you have the opportunity to give a high dose of chemo," said Dr. William Tse, Seth's doctor at Norton Children's Hospital. "You also have the new donor cells, which can fight the leukemic cells and kill the leukemic cells."

Seth's first bone marrow donor was one of his older brothers, Max, who was found to be an 8/10 match. The procedure was done in Louisville at Norton Children's, and despite their hopes, the cancer returned. Eventually, Seth went through another transplant, this time through a random donor with Be The Match. The donor, someone anonymous who the family began calling "Rey" because of their love of Star Wars, was a 10/10 match for Seth. The procedure was done at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

"I still feel so blessed to this day that he had four matches," Michelle Walsh said. "I have so many friends that have zero matches, and that is just terrifying to me."

The difference these transplants can have run deep and can have life-long impacts, according to Seth's doctors. In fact, they said his blood type has changed to match his anonymous donor.

"You use the donor cells to kill the leukemic cells," Tse said. "Since the donor cells replace the patient's cells, as a result, all the blood cells have changed typed."

The donor was a woman, so Seth's blood chromosomes also changed over time to match.

Walsh Family — Walsh family, photo provided by family

"So if you're a male and you had a female donor, and they do a blood test, you now have female chromosomes," said Dr. Christine Phillips, with Cincinnati Children's Hospital. "The rest of your chromosomes will be the same as when you were born, but your blood cells will change."

Learning of another relapse after Seth's most recent bone marrow transplant with the anonymous donor was tough.

"He relapsed after his bone marrow transplant with Rey," Michelle Walsh said. "That was very devastating. That was his fourth relapse."

Seth was put on palliative care as his family began searching for a clinical trial, which they started in February of this year with humanized carT.

"It could be our cure forever or it could be our leap to whatever comes next," Michelle Walsh said.

Despite the relapse after the second bone marrow transplant, the Walsh family said they are grateful for the people who have signed up to help try and save children like Seth.

"I mean, Rey saved his life," Michelle Walsh said.

Now that's it's been more than a year since the transplant, the family has been able to request the information of the anonymous donor who they've been calling "Rey" all this time. It turns out, the donor is a woman named Kristi, from Minnesota, who signed up to donate bone marrow after children in her own family were diagnosed with cancer.

"I am just so grateful for her and I know it was meant to be that she was supposed to be in our lives," Michelle Walsh said. "And now, she has this connection with Seth."

The Walsh family hasn't met Kristi yet, but Seth said if he ever does get to meet her, he'd "tell her thanks for giving me your bone marrow."

Michelle Walsh said the family is just one of seven families in the Mt. Washington community affected by childhood cancer. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and the Walsh family, along with the other families, is holding a toy drive for kids at Norton Children's Hospital.