Stem cell transplant cementing father-son bond of Arizona men

Terry Tang, Associated Press

updated

15:01 PDT, Monday 10 September 2018

GILBERT, Ariz. (AP) – Thirty-five years after an Arizona man took care of his son when he was shot in their homeland, Lebanon, the son gives him back his devotion.

Reverend John Ibraham Sabbagh and his 54-year-old son, Ebby Sabbagh, celebrate a year of strong growth since Sabbagh received a crucial stem cell transplant. After undergoing chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia, the 88-year-old patient opted for the transplant in September 2017 at the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, about 32 kilometers southeast of Phoenix.

It was Ebby, also the eldest son, who ended up being enough to provide stem cells.

"We all learned from this: Be a positive fighter," Ebby said Friday as he helped his father look at the hospital staff planned for his transplant anniversary. "If he does not give up, we do not give up."

Dr. Rajneesh Nath performed stem cell transplants on several elderly patients. But never on one as old as John. Nath said that he could say after chemotherapy and other low-intensity therapies that the elder Sabbagh was strong for his age.

"He was walking down the halls and his ability to tolerate (treatment) was no different from that of the younger patients we treated," Nath said.

It was ultimately John's decision and he wanted to adopt the most aggressive approach. Former Sabbagh, who was chaplain to the Arizona Department of Corrections for 13 years, said he considered himself a fighter.

"A fighter, but not in a negative way," he says in a soft voice.

Dr. Andrew Yeager, director of the Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, said he would give the team "a good bottle of alcohol to say: Years 80. "

"It's really up there and atypical," Yeager said.

An elderly transplant recipient may have more difficulty in certain areas, such as recovery. Stem cells from the donor can undergo the attack after the transplant, a disease known as graft versus host disease. This can be debilitating, even for a young patient. In addition, according to Yeager, patients aged 60 and over sometimes have underlying problems with their major organs.

Ebby says their roles are now essentially reversed since he was shot dead in Tripoli in 1983 during the Lebanese civil war. Ebby had just turned 18 years old. He drove his father's car to get some ice cream after finishing his exams. Several men shot his car at a surprise checkpoint, Ebby said. Despite the injuries caused by shrapnel and part of his left leg torn off, he managed to escape.

Eventually, friends helped him to go to the hospital. He was later transferred to a hospital in Beirut where he spent more than three months recovering. John made the two hour trip from Tripoli to stay in the hospital or with friends.

"Thanks to all that, Dad was right," Ebby recalls. "He refused to go home until he took me with him."

The experience of helping his father through cancer has somehow brought them closer together.

"What I get is tons, every moment I cherish," said Ebby. "We really had a good time together."

John will have to undergo another bone marrow biopsy this month to see if the cancer is still present or if it has developed. Even with this uncertainty hanging over the whole family, Ebby says he has no regrets.

"To have this opportunity to prolong his life, to be able to counter this disease – it was worth it? The answer is yes," he said.