http://www.nydailynews.com/08-23-200...p-290058c.html
A truly bloodless coup
Docs treat teen without using transfusions
BY NICOLE BODE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A plucky Canadian teenager who battled to get a unique form of bone cancer treatment in New York finally headed back home yesterday.
Sarah Bahris, a 15-year-old member of Jehovah's Witnesses, clashed with medical officials in Canada when she refused blood transfusions for religious reasons.
Yesterday, the high school sophomore thanked her doctors at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park, L.I., for helping to keep both her health and her principles intact.
"It wouldn't have been so hard if we didn't have to fight the government on this. It was a huge relief when I was able to come to Schneider's," said Sarah, who underwent treatment for a 5-inch-long bone tumor in her right leg in December.
"I'm very excited," she continued. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
Sarah is the latest patient to seek out the hospital's blood avoidance program, a decade-old practice that uses alternative methods to limit - or in Sarah's case, completely eliminate - the need for blood transfusions, doctors said.
Among the tactics are using hormones to stimulate blood creation and drawing less blood for testing.
"This is a movement that is growing," said Dr. Michael LaCorte, director of the program, which was formalized two years ago.
Dr. Jeffrey Lipton, Sarah's pediatric hematologist and one of the first doctors to champion the practice, added that the program allows doctors to curtail the amount of foreign blood injected into patients, while not compromising patient care.
That appeals not only to Jehovah's Witnesses but also other patients concerned about blood-borne diseases, among other issues, he said. But he cautioned that the program is not suited for every form of cancer, especially leukemia. Among the risks of limiting blood transplants are severe anemia or hemorrhaging, he said. "We've been very very concerned about making it clear that we will use blood to save somebody's life," Lipton said. "But it's becoming more and more common. I envision that by the year 2015 this will be the standard."
Originally published on August 23, 2005
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