Photo of Jaci Van Altena, (patient, unmasked) with her care team in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program (BMTP). From left: Sarah Mitchell, Registered Nurse; Lisa Bugaliski, Manager; Adrienne Fulford, Nurse Practitioner; Jaci VanAltena; and Julie Adam, Registered Nurse.
February 12, 2026
Jaci Van Altena served in the Canadian navy for 10 years but was living in New Zealand and working on a flower farm when she started feeling unwell over the course of a few weeks. She began seeing bruising and was experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath. She also started coughing up blood.
“I got antibiotics and they helped for a bit,” explains Van Altena. “But I had to wait to see a specialist because there was only one other person with me on the farm at the time I started getting sick.”
When she went to a clinic, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – a fast-growing blood cancer.
Originally from Bayfield, Ontario, the closest treatment option for Van Altena was London Health Sciences Centre’s (LHSC) Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre in London.
“My team in New Zealand contacted the Verspeeten and they communicated back and forth until I was able to fly back to Canada and consult with them about treatment,” Van Altena shares.
After trying other treatments, Van Altena was referred to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program (BMTP) in the Verspeeten.
“When it became clear that my cancer would not stay away with the treatments I had been given, I was referred to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program to explore stem cell transplantation,” explains Van Altena. “I was then referred to Dr. Uday Deotare, and I had a good relationship with him and trusted him.”
“At first, I did not like the idea of the transplant because of all the risks. But it was my best option for long-term remission. I already knew about the process because I had a friend in New Zealand who had just received a stem cell transplant,” Van Altena shares.
The team initially tested Van Altena’s sister to see if she was a stem cell match to potentially be a donor, but unfortunately, she was not a match, so the team had to then search for an unrelated donor.
The stem cell transplantation with an unrelated donor
The unrelated donor stem cell transplant program at LHSC launched May 12, 2025, and Van Altena was the program’s first unrelated donor transplant recipient the summer of 2025.
“LHSC has performed related donor stem cell transplants for many years, but the unrelated donor transplants require significantly more coordination,” explains Carey Landry, Director, Inpatient Oncology, CMH & Stem Cell at LHSC. “With international donor searches, testing and clearance, registry coordination, global courier logistics and ensuring compliance with the World Marrow Donor Association standards, it took some time for us to build the program to include unrelated donor stem cell transplants. We are now pleased to provide this treatment locally, reducing the travel burden on the patient during an already challenging time.”
The process of finding an unrelated donor began with Van Altena’s care team entering her information into the Canadian Blood Services’ Stem Cell Registry platform and searching for potential Canadian and international donors. The results are sorted by genetic matching and can come from anywhere in the world. Volunteer potential donors have submitted blood or cheek swab samples to their local registries which funnel into an international repository with over 40 million registrants to match from.
The BMTP team at the Verspeeten will only request donors from registries compliant with the WMDA. These registries are regularly audited to ensure they hold their collection centre affiliates to a high standard of quality. As well, donors are rigorously screened and tested for various diseases to minimize risk of disease transmission through the stem cell product.
The team usually chooses one primary unrelated donor and likes to have at least one back-up unrelated donor identified, if possible. This helps to ensure that if there is a last-minute delay or cancellation with the primary donor, this does not set the transplant timeline back too long.
When the donor is chosen, they will have a collection date set by the collection centre in their country of origin and confirmed with Canadian Blood Services and the BMTP team. After the collection date is confirmed, the BMTP team will book a courier to deliver the stem cell donation.
“Everything was relying on the donor and when they had time to donate their stem cells. Once they donated, their cells were transported from where the donor lived to the Verspeeten and the stem cells were delivered through my Hickman line,” Van Altena explains.
Even though Van Altena was familiar with the process, it was harder than she thought it would be. “I handled all of the chemotherapy so well and never really had any bad side effects, so I thought the stem cell transplant would be the same,” Van Altena says. “But I had bad mouth sores and couldn’t really eat so had to get food through my Hickman line. I had no energy and lost a lot of muscle as well. It was not the easy ride I hoped it would be.”
Van Altena notes that even though her side effects were more intense than she hoped, she remained positive about the outcome and spoke highly of the care she received.
“Everyone in my care has been amazing. All of the nurses on the seventh floor that took care of me during the transplant were so kind. I loved that they got my sense of humor and gave it right back to me. I’ll forever be grateful for everyone on my team,” Van Altena shares.
After stem cell transplantation
Van Altena is doing very well now and continues to be seen by her stem transplant physician, Dr. Uday Deotare, Hematologist and Blood and Marrow Transplant Physician, Medicine, LHSC.
Moving forward, Van Altena will continue receiving follow-ups for the rest of her life. Currently, she’s going to the Verspeeten once a month for checkups, and that will gradually decrease over time until she has one annual checkup appointment and routine blood work to ensure she remains in remission.
“I’ve started going back to work a couple of hours a day with my dad doing construction. I’m getting back into the gym to get my strength and stamina back and I’m eating well,” she notes. “I’m ready for the next chapter of my life.”