Artist Explores the Renewal and Healing of Stem Cell Transplants 

In 2023, Denise “Necee” Regis was brought face to face with her old art studio building on Brookline Avenue. As she walked by, she was able to identify the window that belonged to the room where she once spent the late 70s and early 80s working on a Master of Fine Arts at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt).  

This time, she wasn’t back in the area for an artistic endeavor. In fact, painting and drawing had been on the back burner as Regis’ freelance travel writing career flourished. Instead, she was heading to a follow-up appointment at Dana-Farber after her stem cell transplant. But after seeing her studio in the context of everything she had experienced in the past year, she was compelled back to the canvas. 

The drawings that resulted are brightly colored shapes and swirls meant to evoke images of cells. They’re a subject that began to preoccupy Regis after she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome in January 2021. Dividing her time between Mexico and Wellfleet, Mass., Regis raised concern about some splotches on her face to her physician in Mexico. He ordered some bloodwork which showed that Regis’ white blood cells — which support the immune system in fighting off infections — were abnormal. 

Necee Regis and her drawing Hematopoiesis, Astral 1.

Back in Wellfleet, Regis’ primary provider continued monitoring her bloodwork even though she felt totally fine. She swam six times a week and walked daily. However, the results became so concerning that she was referred to a hematologist who performed a bone marrow biopsy

It revealed a type of myelodysplastic syndrome which is caused by blood cells that do not form properly in a person’s blood marrow. Although not technically cancer, it can increase the risk of leukemia and cause other complications like anemia, recurrent infections, and bleeding that won’t stop.  

Regis still felt fine, so, her care team decided to wait and see before intervening. But just under a year later Regis began experiencing challenging symptoms like shortness of breath and bruising. Further testing after that led to a referral to Dana-Farber. 

There she met with chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies Robert Soiffer, MD, who recommended that Regis pursue an allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplant as a preemptive measure. During an allogeneic transplant, healthy (hematopoietic) stem cells are transplanted from a healthy donor to the patient to grow and produce all the different parts of the blood that both the body and immune system need.

Because it essentially means resetting the process that creates immune cells, red blood cells, and platelets, the patient’s immune system is in a precarious position for many months afterward as it builds back up. 

Regis needed to isolate herself and make weekly visits to Dana-Farber. “Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who was willing to make that drive for me,” she says.  

It was because of this experience that she encountered the scientific term for the process of blood cell production: hematopoiesis. “What a wonderful word,” she says. It became the title for her new series which was inspired by the “life-affirming spirit of self-renewal” that her transplant had come to represent. 

For these drawings, Regis was drawn to a material usually used by children: crayons. The strategy points to a return to a more innocent, fun-loving period of life that also fits into this theme of renewal which to Regis can take place at the “cellular, emotional, and even professional level.” 

Hematopoiesis, Nebulae 4 by Necee Regis

Using layers of deep blues and purples, bright pinks and yellows, and scratching lines into the wax, Regis creates textural images full of energy. Even this technique, with its layering and then unearthing of the color below, is suggestive of revival. 

Regis reports that she feels healthy today. In fact, she was recently cleared to travel back to Mexico for the winter. Her crayons and paper are coming with her. 

Regis’ nurse practitioner, Amy Joyce, NP, appreciates the “hope and purpose” that her art portrays. Joyce, who has been with Regis through her recovery, sees the artwork as an extension of her mindset.

“She has focused on remaining busy, active, and finding joy throughout her journey,” Joyce says. “It has been inspirational to me as one of her caregivers.” 

“Friends who have seen the work always tell me, ‘They’re so happy. They’re not doom and gloom,’” she says. That’s by design,” Regis explains. “I want to make this clinical thing happier, more energetic, livelier, especially for the people who have been through a similar thing.” 

8 thoughts on “Artist Explores the Renewal and Healing of Stem Cell Transplants ”

  1. This is a fantastic and inspiring article in many ways! Necee’s beautiful paintings graphically display the transformation of her blood cells, as well as her physical renewal to become a healthy person because of the miracle of modern medicine. Congratulations to all those who took part in this truly remarkable endeavor!!!

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  2. terrific article – I wish I knew who wrote it. It says so much about illness and recovery, and with the illustration of the art and the resilient and smiling artist/patient, shows so much spirit.

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  3. We know your sister supported and prayed for you during your journey to health. As her old friend, my husband, Kevin and I joined in prayer for you with her . So happy that you are well and “famous”! Best regards,
    Ginny Berichon

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