Children's Hospital Oakland, which has the largest thalassemia program in the state, follows more than 400 cases. In patients with thalassemia, the red blood cells cannot carry oxygen adequately. Treatment requires frequent and regular blood transfusions. These transfusions, however, cause iron to build up in the body, which is very dangerous. Patients have to take medications, delivered by a needle for eight to twelve hours every day, to combat the extra iron.
Many patients suffer long-term affects of iron overload, including potentially fatal organ damage.
Earlier this year, she was the first patient to receive a bone marrow transplant through Children's Hospital Oakland's new Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. Only a handful of children with Justine's form of thalassemia have survived until birth. Justine survived without major brain or other organ damage. Soon after birth, she became a patient at Children's. She has an older sister who was able to donate bone marrow for her.