Samantha Smith said she noticed shortly after Smith returned from a 33-day hospital stay last Monday that “something just wasn’t quite right” and her husband returned to the hospital Wednesday for further testing. She wrote in a blog post Monday that the situation had taken a dire turn.
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Smith, 25, had the bone marrow procedure Nov. 6. He was initially diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in February 2014 while playing professionally in Lithuania. Doctors believed they had eradicated the disease but Smith suffered a relapse this spring, setting the stage for the bone marrow transplant.
At this point, the transplant has failed. Essentially, this vicious disease has chewed up and spit out every single drug and treatment we have tried in the past two years like it was nothing. So, we potentially have one final treatment option left and that is a clinical study. Our incredible team of doctors is fighting endlessly on our behalf making phone calls to every potential institution that might have a trial for us to be a part of. But at the end of the day, we need a miracle.
Smith played center for Butler from 2010-13 and was a key cog in the Bulldogs’ back-to-back Final Four appearances in that span.
