A young Tucson woman who underwent a lifesaving bone-marrow transplant three years ago now says she is healthier than she has ever been.
At 22, Lizzie Bell is experiencing a new life that comes with waking up and feeling good and strong.
“It feels nice to have freedom to live,” said Bell, a smile erupting on her face while sitting in her living room in her Foothills home Friday afternoon.
But life wasn’t always so. Bell was born with Diamond-Blackfan anemia, a rare disorder that prevents the body from producing sufficient red blood cells. Since she was a baby, she lived at University of Arizona Medical Center-Diamond Children’s Medical Center fighting the disease, which requires blood transfusions every two weeks.
Lizzie Bell has a sign in her bedroom that reminds her, “Adventure is out there.”
But since her bone-marrow transplant in July 2013, her life has changed for the better. Her donor was a man who lives in Europe. She underwent the transplant at University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, and Bell lived there for a prolonged period of time as an outpatient.
Two days ago, her house was abuzz because she was celebrating her health during a party and doing her work for sick children whose lives are dependent upon blood and marrow donations.
Bell was in the company of family, friends and supporters for her causes. She and her parents, Kathy Flores Bell and Michael Bell, were hosting a blood drive for the American Red Cross, and some 30 people were signed up to donate.
The young woman, who works in the children’s clothing area at a department store, had arrived home as the event was underway. She changed into jean shorts and a brown top and joined the party, where she ate a plate filled with vegetables, crackers and meat wrapped in bacon.
Lizzie Bell tries to control her cousin Andrew Bell’s hair after it blew out of place during her photo shoot in midtown using him and her friend Nicole Ayers as models ini 2013.
She took time out to explain her newfound freedom, which includes hopping in her KIA Rio and driving by herself to Phoenix to spend time with her nieces and nephews.
She plans to travel to Jamaica in January and eventually to Paris.
In her bedroom, she has a money jar filled with change and a taped note that reads: “Adventure is out there.” She sees many more road trips in the future, but doesn’t know exactly where she will go.
For the moment, her higher education will wait. Eventually she plans to enroll at the University of Arizona and study photography. She still dreams of becoming a fashion photographer. She had planned to go to Columbia College in Chicago, but after spending a year in Minnesota after her transplant, she realized she hated cold weather.
Two years ago, Bell’s body began making red blood cells. Her marrow is functioning at a normal level. However, because she has too much iron in her heart and liver, Bell must go to Banner-University Medical Center Tucson every two weeks to have blood drawn.
But this is a piece of cake compared to her blood transfusions and complications from the disease since birth. Her last transfusion was in May 2014.
Bell remains under the supervision of her medical team at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, where she reports for an examination once a year.
The Salpointe Catholic High School graduate no longer lives in hospitals.
“She is a walking miracle,” said her grandmother, Gloria Flores, 78, who prays every day for Lizzie. The joyous grandmother handed out carnations to people at the party.
Bell’s good friend, Karina Acosta, 18, grew up with Lizzie and spent time in and out of the hospital with her. Experiencing her medical journey helped Acosta decide to major in nursing.
As supporter holds a sign up for Lizzie Bell, the 14-year-old girl whose family received a new home is revealed during a taping of the ABC shot “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in Tucson in 2009.
“Seeing Lizzie in pain was the hardest thing for me, and that is when I decided that I wanted to help people who were sick, like the nurses who tended to her. The nurses became her family,” Acosta said.
The Bells continue to raise money through the Lizzie Bell Hospital School Endowment, which is aimed at providing an education to children while they are hospitalized.
For more information about the endowment and fundraisers to help children with medically complex needs go to Facebook’s Team Lizzie Bell.
