In 2015, I wrote a story, “A cure for Cate,” for The Greenwood Commonwealth about a 10-month-old, Cate Hargett, who was diagnosed with a rare blood disease. I didn’t get to meet Cate then because she couldn’t be around many people due to her weakened immune system, but I met her mother, Jenni, a longtime educator at Mississippi Delta Community College.
During the interview, Jenni and I talked at length about Cate’s diagnosis of Diamond Blackfan anemia. This disease occurs when bone marrow fails to produce red blood cells, which are needed for carrying oxygen from the lungs and to other parts of the body.
According to the Diamond Blackfan Anemia Foundation, there is an estimated incidence of 5 to 7 cases per million live births, and there are fewer than 800 to 900 patients currently enrolled in the Diamond Blackfan Anemia Registry of North America.
When Cate was 2½ months old, she wasn’t gaining weight at the rate expected, so she was admitted to the hospital for failure to thrive, which is how the disease is usually detected, her mother had told me. At the hospital, it was found that Cate had a hemoglobin level of 3.5, and a normal one is around 13. It was caught early enough that it did not have devastating effects. But to keep her alive, Cate had to have blood transfusions every three to four weeks.
At 6 months old, Cate had a bone marrow biopsy, and she soon was diagnosed with Diamond Blackfan anemia. The Hargett family has had many hospital trips and stays and seen multiple specialists over the years. Cate even took her first steps in the Cancer Clinic at Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital.
I wrote this story about Cate over 10 years ago to help get the word out about a blood and bone marrow match drive held in Cate’s honor.
Cate is now 11 and a fifth grader at Pillow Academy.
Over the years, I have seen Cate’s name in Pillow Academy honor rolls or pictures that were sent to me to be published in the newspaper. I’d always smile, because despite all that she was going through so early in life, she’s a happy, thriving child. And, most recently, I had interviewed her older sister, Ali, who served as Greenwood’s Miss Hospitality last year.
When I first moved to Indianola, my neighbor invited me over for lunch. Several of her friends were there, and one happened to be Jenni’s mother. That’s when I first heard about how Cate was in need of a bone marrow transplant soon as her grandmother asked us all to keep her granddaughter in our prayers.
After Cate’s Diamond Blackfan anemia diagnosis, doctors at St. Jude later discovered Cate has a rare genetic mutation linked to Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, a disorder that affects how the bone marrow works. Tests also showed she has extremely short telomeres — the protective caps on DNA — leading to a diagnosis of a telomere biology disorder.
Over time, her bone marrow has struggled to keep up with her body’s needs. As a baby, she was diagnosed with neutropenia, meaning she didn’t produce enough infection-fighting white blood cells. She has since also developed thrombocytopenia, which means her body doesn’t make enough platelets to help blood clot.
Late last year, a routine bone marrow biopsy showed a TP53 mutation, a genetic change that can signal cancer may be developing. Cate underwent additional testing at St. Jude, and now she urgently needs a bone marrow transplant before malignancy develops. St. Jude is monitoring her progression.
A few weeks ago, I began to see Facebook posts pop up from people I know from the Greenwood area, and over the weekend, I read an article from our sister publication, the Commonwealth, that’s in today’s edition of The E-T on page 4. They all are sharing information on a bone marrow registry to help Cate find a donor.
The Hargett family is working with the National Marrow Donor Program and DKMS, a global organization that recruits donors and provides patients with matches.
I decided to get a swab test myself. The process was easy and quick. I filled out a form online that took maybe a couple of minutes. The swab kit arrived in the mail about two days later. The test itself probably took all of 10 minutes. There were three swabs, and easy-to-follow directions. I mailed my kit last Friday, and by Wednesday of this week, I received an email saying my swab test had arrived at the lab.
This is such an easy thing to do, and it took minimal effort. I want to encourage people — anyone who feels it in their heart that this is something they would want to do — to please sign up today.
If you are between the ages of 18 and 35, text TeamCate to 61474 to complete a registration with NMDP and request a free swab kit. If you are between 18 and 55, go to www.DKMS.org/swabforcate, complete a form and they will mail a free swab kit.
