Health Check
WDBJ-7 TV (CBS Affiliate, Roanoke)
5 p.m. News, July 15, 2003

[ANCHOR=Jean]
[NEWSCAST=5pm]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=502-11 55:11]
[GRAPHIC=]
In health check tonight,
A local teenager will soon become one of the youngest people in the nation to undergo a stem cell transplant for crohn's disease.
[ANCHOR=JEAN 2 shot]

Health Check Reporter Joy Sutton joins us with details.
[ANCHOR=Joy 2 shot]

Jean, For 13 year old Jordan Fifer this is his one chance at a normal life.
[ANCHOR=JOY FULL]
[SUPER=@JOY1;]
[GRAPHIC=None]

He has tried many medications but nothing has seemed to work --that's why his parents and doctors feel that a stem cell transplant is his best hope.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=This is a needle we use to put]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;00]
[SUPER=07-Jordan Fifer;21]
[SUPER=01-Gary Fifer/Jordan's Dad;47]
[SUPER=01-Hope Fifer/Jordan's Mom;59]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Michael Hart/Carilion Pediatric Gastroenterology;1:11]
[RUNS=2:07]
[OUT Q=hopefully next year]
((
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[NAT SOT1:23;19, JORDAN AT HOME TAPE]
[IN Q=This a needle we use to put]
((NAT SOT: THIS IS A NEEDLE WE USE TO PUT IN MY CHEST TO PUT MEDICINE IN AND TAKE OUT BLOOD))
[RUNS09]
[OUT Q=and take out blood]

13 year old Jordan Fifer has gotten use to taking several medications a day, drawing his own blood, and living with constant stomach pain. And that's not the worse of it. His Crohn's disease meant at times he couldn't even eat.
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[SOT43:10]
[IN Q=A bad day for me might be staying home in the bed]
((A BAD DAY FOR ME MIGHT BE STAYING HOME IN BED USING THE BATHROOM A LOT. FEELING REALLY TIRED, FLU LIKE, AND HAVING A FEVER --RUNNING TO THE BATHROOM ALL THE TIME)) [RUNS13]
[OUT Q=running to the bathroom all the time]

Jordan is schedued to undergo a stem cell transplant at the end of the month at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. If it works it will give him a new immune system --and a life free of the disease.
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[SOT1:08:30]
[IN Q=You want to give your child the best shot]
(( YOU WANT TO GIVE YOUR CHILD THE BEST SHOT AND THE BEST FUTURE. JORDAN'S AT RISK FOR TERRIBLE THINGS IF HE DOESN'T HAVE THE BONE MARROW TRASNPLANT THE STEM CELL TRANSPLANT REALLY )) [RUNS11]
[OUT Q=the stem cell transplant really]
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[SOT53:43]
[IN Q=I want for him the thing that any mother]
((I WANT FOR HIM THE THINGS THAT ANY MOTHER WOULD WANT. I WANT HIM TO HAVE FRIEND AND PARTIES AND ALL KINDS OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES)) [RUNS09]
[OUT Q=all kinds of social activities]

Pediatric Gastroenterologist Michael Hart says Jordan has one of the worse cases of the inflammatory disease.
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[SOT50:55]
[IN Q=In Jordan's case because we had burnt]
((IN JORDAN'S CASE BECAUSE WE HAD BURNT OF ALL OUR BRIDGES AS FAR AS CONVENTIONAL THERAPY IS CONCERNED. WE HAD GO TO A DRASTIC INTERVENTION. BUT THERE WASN'T ANY OTHER OPTION TO GIVE HIM THE BEST CHANCE AT A NORMAL LIFE)) [RUNS07]
[OUT Q=chance at a normal life]

At least that has been the case for other children involved in the pre-clinical intervention trial of this treatment.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT54:04]
[IN Q=All of these children who underwent]
((ALL THESE CHILDREN WHO UNDERWENT THIS TRANSPLANT.. HAD BEEN ON I-V FEEDING DEPENDENDENT, LOTS OF SURGERY, LOTS OF AWFUL SYMPTOMS. AND THESE CHILDREN ARE CURED)) [RUNS19]
[OUT Q=are cured]

Jordan says he's ready for a new life.
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[SOT45:50]
[IN Q=I'm really eager to go]
((I'M REALLY EAGER TO GO BECAUSE WHEN I COME BACK I'LL BE ABLE TO EAT PIZZA AGAIN AND I'LL BE ABLE TO GO PLAY INDOOR SOCCER AGAIN HOPEFULLY NEXT YEAR)) [RUNS07]
[OUT Q=hopefully next year]))
[ANCHOR=Joy Full]

For more information about Jordan or the fund set up to help pay for his medical expenses -- you can find a link to his web page on our web site at wdbj7.com.
[ANCHOR=Jean/Joy 2 shot]

Jean, tomorrow we'll focus more on the stem cell transplant --and how it will work in Jordan's case.