Lizzie Bell is home for Christmas — a wish the 19-year-old keeps thanking God for making possible.
She attended Christmas Eve Mass at St. Cyril of Alexandria Church, 4725 E. Pima St., surrounded by some 30 family members and friends.
It was in July that Bell, a Salpointe Catholic High School graduate, underwent a lifesaving bone marrow transplant at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis.
The transplant — made possible because of a donor who lives in Europe — was deemed successful.
The marrow has “100 percent engrafted” into Lizzie’s body and for the first time her body is making red blood cells, explained Kathy Flores Bell, Lizzie’s mother, who lives with Lizzie at the Ronald McDonald House, minutes away from the Minneapolis medical center.
The two will return Jan. 8 to continue working with the endocrinology and the marrow team at UMMC.
Lizzie was born with Diamond-Blackfan anemia, a rare disorder that prevented her body from producing sufficient red blood cells. Red blood cells are important because a protein in the cells called hemoglobin carries oxygen to the organs in the body.
Lizzie grew up in hospitals since she was a baby fighting the rare disease, which requires blood transfusions every two weeks. Before the transplant, Lizzie had lost 95 percent of her bone marrow.
After the transplant, Lizzie now is down to one transfusion a month, and her medical team at UMMC is hoping to phase out transfusions in one year.
The young woman’s body also has not shown any signs of rejection, and she is starting to be weaned off the anti-rejection drugs, Kathy Flores Bell said.
Lizzie has grown one-fourth of an inch, and she is stronger. She no longer is cold all the time, and her appetite has improved.
This holiday season, Lizzie is spending time visiting friends, family, teachers and enjoying University of Arizona basketball games.
She is also participating in family traditions — something close to her heart.
Relatives from Chicago; Tulsa, Okla.; Mercer, Wis.; and Arizona gathered this week to cook secret recipes passed down through the generations. Foods include turkey, potatoes, cranberry salad, green beans, spinach casserole and cornbread stuffing. Homemade desserts are peanut bars, cookies, fudge and pies.
Lizzie was delightfully happy and at peace when she took part in the family’s traditional lighting of the candles in the back yard of their Santa Catalina Mountains foothills home.
All sang “Silent Night” and proceeded to a Nativity scene where the youngest child, Lily Bell, 5, who is Lizzie’s niece, placed baby Jesus into a manager that was made by Lizzie’s grandfather.
Lizzie is well known because of her and her family’s work raising funds, sponsoring blood and bone-marrow drives, and educating the public about the urgent need for bone marrow donors.
Their work, with the help of countless volunteers and local businesses, made Lizzie and her rare anemia known worldwide when in 2009 the ABC reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” practically tore down the family’s home and built a new one.
Lizzie said she always will work to educate the public about Diamond-Blackfan anemia and the importance of bone marrow donations .
She said she prays that the Tucson community remembers children at University of Arizona Medical Center-Diamond Children’s year-round.
“Lizzie is here because someone gave her marrow. We are blessed. We feel thankful and we are humbled by what we have lived through,” said her mother.
“Christmas is a time of hope and family. Wrap your arms around those who are a part of your family and make it the best you can make it during the season of giving,” she said.
