Aid Soorena Salari's Journey to Full Recovery

After about 3-4 months of unexplained cold/flu symptoms, my father, Soorena Salari, was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in June 2023. He has been receiving lifesaving treatment at UCI Medical Center (UCIMC) in Orange, CA under the care of Dr. Stefan Ciurea (Director of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program at UCIMC) and his comprehensive provider team.

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood, and its severity isn't classified like most people are familiar with, "stage 1," stage 2," etc. Though, my dad's leukemia was severe enough to be present inside of his cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

With advanced treatment and great spirits, my dad defeated the statistics/odds and beat his cancer in less than a year! By the end of 2023, my dad was declared cancer free with less than 1% lymphoblastic leukemia present in his blood/bone marrow & CSF making him finally eligible to receive a transplantation of bone marrow.

The way to beat leukemia "definitively" is to absolutely wipe out the cancer, and then infuse stem cells from bone marrow, in hopes that the recipient's body takes the donated stem cells as new instructions to generate normal blood cells.

In January 2024, my brother, Sirus Salari, and I underwent some testing and I was found to be a strong/successful match for my dad! On January 25th, 2024, my dad received what I've referred to as the "nuclear bomb" of chemo, as his "system" was completely reset! Every vaccine he ever had - GONE, no immunity, just like that of a newborn baby. On that same day, I was put under and about 1 liter of my bone marrow was extracted from my pelvis to be processed in the lab and then given to my dad that same night!

Since then, the road to recovery has been fraught with challenge we didn't even know we'd have to face. A fight of neuromuscular decline, a Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in the Spring, and fatigue/respiratory/now neurological & kidney issues since July. Not to mention all of the psychological, social, and financial challenges since June 2023.

Since July 2024, my dad has had to be hospitalized 4 times (almost 1 hospitalization a month) for increasingly worse respiratory issues, that (until as of late) have been unexplained/idiopathic by the doctors at UCIMC. Since July 26th 2024, my dad has been home for a total of 12 hours, all other time spent in a hospital bed at UCIMC or at an acute rehabilitation facility for in-patient physical therapy.

October 13th, 2024 my dad was admitted to UCIMC for hypoxia, and has not left since. November 1st, he was diagnosed with Transplant Associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy (TA-TMA). We finally got an answer as to what has been causing the fluid overload in his lungs/body. Since then he has been receiving treatment with a very special medication called Eculizumab.

This admission has been the most challenging one to date, with his condition reaching its worse, requiring emergency dialysis, a feeding tube to be placed, and high flow oxygen. November 4th, the hospital's Rapid Response Team was activated, my dad's oxygen saturation was dangerously low, the doctors were minutes away from transferring him to ICU and intubating him to place him on a ventilator, when his body decided to respond positively to the high flow nasal cannula. Since that low point (and with the Eculizumab) he has been improving. As of late, he is needing only a very little amount of supplemental oxygen and his kidneys appear to be repairing!

He is left with neurological/cognition deficits he his battling, requiring finances, personal affairs, and everyday needs to be heavily supported by myself and his wife, Fernalyn (Fifi) Salari. Donations of any amount help us ensure my dad WINS this fight, we've come so far. Thank you!!