Kaylee's Courage - Meet Kaylee

Kaylee, a spunky and creative teenager, had always been healthy. But when a school nurse called concerned about a bruise Kaylee had after a minor fall on the playground, her mother scheduled an appointment with the pediatrician, where bloodwork revealed she was very sick.
Once in the Emergency Department at St. Louis Children’s, the medical team began running tests. A bone marrow biopsy revealed Kaylee had aplastic anemia, a condition in which the bone marrow fails to produce adequate blood cells. Once stable, Kaylee visited Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital twice weekly for transfusions and took daily medications. Unfortunately by June 2022, Kaylee’s doctors decided it was time for a bone marrow transplant.
After four rounds of chemotherapy, Kaylee was ready for a transplant in early 2023. Kaylee endured many complications but after 90 days Kaylee became fully engrafted, meaning that the cells she received on transplant day started to grow and make healthy blood cells. Kaylee is now weaning off the medications used to help her recover and she visits Siteman Kids once a month. She was also able to start her freshman year of high school.