From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
My View: Donating bone marrow can be a life-changing, affirming choice
Joining a national registry for potential bone marrow donors can save a life -- and enrich yours.
Amy Smith
"You have the power to save a life."
These were the words I read in 1999 as I became a member of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a bone marrow registry for helping people with blood diseases such as cancer, lupus and sickle-cell anemia. In the back of my mind, I thought I didn't represent the minority genetic makeup they needed most, but if I could help I wanted to.
It was a culmination of events in my life that led me to this decision. In 1979, I was 15 when I had lost a dear friend to leukemia. She was 13 when she had been the recipient of a bone marrow donation from her younger brother. This donation offered her a remission, hope and time.
Seventeen years later, I was the mother of newborn twins when Rod Carew's daughter had leukemia. Despite an outpouring of volunteers who became members of the registry, they never found Rod's daughter a bone marrow match. I remember watching as Rod pleaded with us on the local news to get involved and get registered, not just for his daughter but for all children and individuals suffering from cancer.
Finally, in 1999 Dave Huddleston and Joe Schmidt (local news anchors) were guests at a fundraiser I attended. Schmidt revealed that Huddleston had been a bone marrow donor. It was Schmidt's remarks about Huddleston that finally motivated me to seek out a Memorial Blood Center to get registered. I remember thinking I'd probably never get called. However, what I later learned was that only 30 percent of patients who need a bone marrow transplant will actually find a match within their own family and 70 percent rely on the registry.
Seven years later, on Nov. 30, 2006, I received a postcard from the NMDP notifying me that I had a match and asking if I could please call the Minneapolis office. I did and the donor process began.
The first question was whether I was still willing to be a donor. My positive response led to a health screening questionnaire. I was then told that I would be contacted if I was still a good candidate. After just three days, I was called again and this time I was sent a packet of information about the donation process and asked to go to the University of Minnesota for additional blood work, a meeting with the transplant coordinator, and an EKG. In the packet there were many consent forms, a detailed booklet on bone marrow donation, and a DVD detailing the steps toward donation, the donation process, and aftercare.
The only information I received about the patient was that he was 46-year-old male and some information about his type of cancer (we came to refer to him as "No. 46"). The transplant information detailed that there were two kinds of donation: platelets and bone marrow. Platelets required the same screening but the donation process was similar to giving blood except your blood was being filtered. Bone marrow donation required general anesthesia, with marrow being taken from the rear hip bones because they held the most marrow. Donation was typically done as outpatient surgery.
In this case a bone marrow donation was the process required.
In just a matter of a few days, I was approved for donation and was sent to the Memorial Blood Center in St. Paul to donate "auto" units, which simply meant donating my own blood which would be given to me after the donation. The transplant was set for one week after Christmas. My mission: remain healthy for two weeks. With three kids this wasn't going to be easy, but with a lot of prayer and hand sanitizer I made it to donation day.
Unusually calm, I arrived at 6 a.m. and checked in. At 7:30 a.m. I was off to surgery, leaving my husband and twin sister behind. I arrived in the operating room and the nurses and doctors were talking about a book they had all read that was now a movie. The next thing I knew I was breathing in an oxygen mask and sound asleep. Two hours later I awoke in recovery.
My first question was whether they got enough marrow for No. 46, and fortunately they had. My donation traveled on an airplane with a courier and arrived at its destination safely. The patient received the transplant around 6 p.m. that same evening. He received the harvested stem cells through an IV and the cells began entering the marrow space in the bones. If the transplant goes well, stem cells from the new marrow begin producing life-sustaining blood cells within two to four weeks.
By the next morning I was only a little achy in my back, and tired. Someone told me it would feel like I had been mountain biking and wiped out on that part of my back. I found this to be a fairly accurate analogy. It felt like I was recovering from the flu: tired, but still able to do what I needed to do.
One year from now, the NMDP will offer me and the narrow recipient a chance to connect if we both agree. Regardless of whether we connect, No. 46 has changed my life. This experience has brought with it a revelation into the human spirit's heart, and with it a jolt of humility and awakening. What a privilege.
With just a swab of your cheek, "You have the power to save a life," as the NMDP sign says. But after my experience I think the sign should read: "You have the power to save a life, uphold the human spirit, and bring hope to a part of the world where there is never enough."
Register today.
Amy Smith is a Chanhassen resident.
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