The Joplin Globe: Neosho teen deals with rare combination of illnesses

By Kaylea M. Hutson-Miller

Since late June, life has changed for Rylee Schroeder and her parents, Megan and Levi Schroeder.

It was then the Neosho High School senior sought help for extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, nosebleeds and more. The symptoms, combined with a previously diagnosed issue with low platelets, led Rylee’s pediatrician to run a series of lab tests.

The news sent the family first to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, and then Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Doctors discovered Rylee’s low hemoglobin, platelets and white blood counts were caused by myelodysplastic syndrome. Additional testing revealed the teen has an extremely rare congenital disorder called Shwachman-Diamond syndrome and a TP53 gene mutation that led to the MDS.

Megan said her daughter is only the 36th patient known to have this combination of illnesses, which have progressed to bone marrow failure.

In September, Rylee received a stem cell bone marrow transplant at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, thanks to a donation from her 12-year-old brother Colin.

If everything goes well with the transplant, doctors hoped to see Colin’s stem cells begin to take hold in Rylee’s body between Day 14 to Day 21, post transplant.

Read the full story via The Joplin Globe

Learn more about The Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Children's Mercy