Connor's Story

Connor smiles for a photo outside

My name is Connor Burke and I am a Junior studying biochemistry at the University of Michigan. After my Freshman year, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I was 19 at the time which landed me in the "Adolescent/Young Adult" category, but my doctors put me on an aggressive treatment plan inspired by the conventional pediatric treatment protocol. While "aggressive" seems an appropriate label from a clinical perspective, one that is more descriptive from a patient's perspective would be "debilitating." For seven months, the best thing I could do for myself was to avoid health complications like getting sick, breaking bones, or excessively bleeding, because anything of this nature could force a change to the treatment plan and reduce the chance of a positive health outcome.

Implicit in this objective to avoid complications is the necessity to maintain acceptable (albeit lower than normal) blood counts. Red blood cell counts below a certain threshold increases the chance of fainting and getting hurt, and a lack of platelets makes it difficult to form a clot if I was to ever get even a small cut, allowing blood to exit and germs to enter. I was on a variety of medications to deal with symptoms and side-effects of chemotherapy, but none of them worked quite as remarkably as blood transfusions. So far, I have received six units of packed red blood cells, four units of platelets, and two units of cryoprecipitate. Fatigue is almost constant for many leukemia patients, but the transfusions of packed red blood cells gave a temporary reprieve from the fatigue when it was at its worst. The platelets and cryoprecipitate made my numbers look better on paper, and also put my mind at ease that I would not get a spontaneous bloody nose. All of the transfusions have been instrumental in allowing my treatment to progress the way it is supposed to. 

Treatment is going well, and following the intense seven months of treatment, I began the much lighter maintenance phase of treatment. If all continues to go well, I will be declared "cancer-free" in October of 2022, but even after that, I will be ineligible to donate blood due to my history of having a blood cancer. So, to help anyone who finds themselves in a position similar to mine now or any time in the future, I would encourage anyone who is able to donate blood. 

-Connor Burke, Blood Drives United Executive Team
Featured News & Stories pigs sick and chickens in background with blue background and green cells floating around
Health Lab
Why the bird flu’s jump to pigs is concerning
A Michigan Medicine virologist speaks about the implications of H5N1 influenza, or bird flu, and whether a new pandemic could be on the horizon.
 young woman standing on her own smiling outside
Health Lab
“Miracle Maddy” pursues high school diploma after complex brain surgery for extremely rare epilepsy
Six years after brain surgery for rare epilepsy Rasmussen’s encephalitis that caused rapid brain deterioration, high school senior is seizure free and planning to pursue nursing.
 Thomas C. Jones
Philanthropy News
A Philosophy of Philanthropy
Philanthropist expands his support of Parkinson’s disease research, patient care, and training by establishing the Thomas C. Jones Movement Disorders Fellowship Fund.
 floating AI-type images in red and blues and yellow on blue background
Health Lab
Racial differences in medical testing could introduce bias to AI models
Black patients are less likely than white patients to receive certain medical tests that doctors use to diagnose severe disease, impacting artificial intelligence data. But researchers have found a way to correct the bias in these data sets.
 surgeon close up operating in bright lighted room
Health Lab
In 10 seconds, AI model detects cancerous brain tumor often missed during surgery
Researchers have developed an AI powered model that — in 10 seconds — can determine during surgery if any part of a cancerous brain tumor that could be removed remains, a study published in Nature suggests.
 Minding Memory with a microphone and a shadow of a microphone on a blue background
Minding Memory
Can a personalized music intervention reduce behavioral disturbances in dementia?
While memory loss is generally thought of as the hallmark of dementia, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia like agitation, aggression, anxiety, and hallucinations are nearly universal, affecting almost all patients with advanced dementia. These behavioral disturbances are often the trigger for nursing home placement, and they can be highly distressing for both patients and their care partners. In today’s episode, Matt and Lauren speak with Dr. Ellen McCreedy, a researcher from the Brown School of Public Health who has conducted a study of personalized music intervention called Music & Memory for people living with dementia in nursing homes. Dr. McCreedy is a gerontologist and health services researcher who focuses on evaluation of non-pharmacologic interventions for managing behavioral disturbances of people living with dementia.