“I never thought about how important blood donation is until this happened to my daughter”
Ajay Patel gained a new appreciation for the importance of blood donation after his daughter, Serena, was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2023.
A strong and playful five-year-old who loves the “Frozen” movies and is wise beyond her years, Serena had to undergo many rounds of chemotherapy and later, immunotherapy treatments, to achieve remission. She often needed blood transfusions to bring her platelet, white and red blood cell counts up to acceptable levels before starting each treatment.
“I never thought about how important blood donation is until this happened to my daughter,” Ajay says. “To see her and all of the other patients in the infusion room receiving their treatments, you see how much blood is needed.”
Since his daughter’s diagnosis, Ajay donates blood whenever he can and urges others to do the same.
Ajay and Serena’s mother, Dipikdan, sensed something was wrong with their daughter a little more than a year ago when she would spend hours sleeping during day and lacked her normal energy.
“She was running a fever for four months and the pediatricians we called would tell us it was probably a viral infection. They would recommend Tylenol and Motrin – she was basically living on them but the fever wouldn’t go away,” Ajay explained. “Serena was always a very active girl and she became very lethargic. She wanted to sleep all day. Her face also started puffing up.”
As the Patels placed Serena in the car for the trip to her pediatrician’s office, she started to bruise on her legs and arms. She continued to run a fever – sometimes in the 103-104-degree range. The visit to the pediatrician and an area emergency department yielded no clues until the Patels sought another opinion from a different pediatrician.
“He immediately had an idea that it could be leukemia,” Ajay said. “They took blood samples and knew right away that she was very sick and told my wife to take her to the Emergency Department right away.”
Ajay rushed from work to drive his wife to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s (RWJUH) Pediatric Emergency Department to be by Serena’s side. By then, both had learned the terrible news: Serena had leukemia and was seriously ill.
Serena was placed in the care of Scott Moerdler, MD, a Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital (BMSCH) at RWJUH and Rutgers Cancer Institute, who is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
“He was the most patient, calm individual you could meet,” Ajay said. “He answered every question and was clear that we had no time to waste.”
Initially, the Patels considered transferring Serena out of state for care, but Dr. Moerdler convinced them to stay at BMSCH.
“He said, ‘Let me care for her for 30 days, then you can transfer her later if you choose,’” Ajay explained.
After the 30 days had passed, Serena’s condition improved and her parents were convinced that she was in good hands with Dr. Moerdler and the pediatric hematology/oncology team at Rutgers Cancer Institute and BMSCH.
She spent almost three months in the hospital and continued an aggressive chemotherapy regimen before her team transitioned her to immunotherapy. Serena completes 32-day cycles of the treatment then is free for two weeks be her active, playful self. Ajay says that she is currently in remission and will enter the “maintenance” phase of her treatment next.
Ajay knows that his daughter may require future blood transfusions, but he’s also aware that there are many individuals who desperately need blood every day. If anyone is hesitant to donate blood due to fear of needles or for any other reason, Ajay has a message for them.
“Your blood donation goes a very long way,” Ajay stresses. “When someone has cancer they constantly need blood. It’s not just cancer patients – it’s anyone who comes to the Emergency Department after an accident who needs surgery to save their life. It’s such an incredible act of kindness. From the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank everyone enough who donates blood.”