The families we meet at Children’s Minnesota often travel long distances to be with us. Alex’s family may hold the record, though: their one-way journey covered more than 6,000 miles.
Alex was born in Duhok, a city in northern Iraq, to parents Naz and Noor. At 6 months old he was diagnosed with beta thalassemia, a blood disorder in which red blood cells don’t receive enough oxygen to support tissues and organs in the body. The condition requires highly specialized care for life, including regular (about every month) blood transfusions as well as additional medications and careful monitoring of the effects of the transfusions.
For the first decade of Alex’s life, his parents made sure he had access to every resource available in their home country. Naz, a psychiatrist, persistently researched his son’s condition and sought newer treatments, beyond what was available in Iraq, that would give his son the healthiest future.
That search ultimately led him to Minnesota — Children’s Minnesota, specifically. Naz connected with members of the cancer and blood disorders team, including Nicole Hart, a nurse case manager, and Stephanie Fritch Lilla, MD, a specialist in thalassemia treatment. They helped Naz understand what might be possible for Alex long-term, with specialized care in Minnesota.
Those initial connections sparked hope. So when Naz got the opportunity to continue his medical education in the United States, he jumped at the chance. The whole family would move across the world.
Alex, who was 10 at the time, remembers an awfully long journey, with flights from Iraq to Qatar to Chicago to Minnesota. Once here, though, the family (which includes Alex’s younger sister Angela) quickly settled in and began treatment with the thalassemia team that had been guiding them.
“From the very first appointment,” remembers Naz, “the doctors, nurses and specialists treated Alex not only with skill but with genuine kindness and care.” He calls Dr. Fritch Lilla a compassionate physician with a gift for explaining complex procedures. To Alex, she’s a hero. As for Nicole, she has become a “second mom to him during each hospital visit.”
The family is also grateful for “every staff member who knows him by name, who smiles, reassures and encourages him at every turn.”
Alex, says his dad, “wakes up every day in Minnesota feeling hopeful about his future.”
Now 13, Alex is thriving in school, enjoying video games, soccer and, like any good teenager, sleeping. “I wouldn’t be here without you,” he says of his care team. “You’re the reason I keep pushing forward, the reason I believe I can be healthy and strong.”
