ABC anchor Robin Roberts stepped outside her New York apartment 21 days after she underwent a bone marrow transplant at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Roberts, 51, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a rare blood disorder similar to blood cancer (leukemia). It is believed she contracted the disease from radiation therapy treatments for breast cancer.
Roberts underwent chemotherapy treatments last month to destroy her immune system to prepare her body for the new bone marrow transplant. Chemotherapy kills rapidly dividing cells, including hair roots resulting in hair loss from the scalp and eyebrows.
Roberts’ sister, Sally Ann, donated the bone marrow which was transplanted into Roberts’ body via an intravenous infusion. Roberts must wear a mask as her immune system rebuilds itself. Dr. Sergio Giralt explained that Roberts’ immune system is “literally 21 days old.”
“There is NO place like HOME!,” Roberts exclaimed as she arrived home Thursday from the hospital with her sisters Sally Ann and Dorothy.
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