By Brittany Rae McDanel

The National Marrow Donor Program has made it easier for people to donate their bone marrow for thousands of leukemia and blood disease patients in need of a transplant. The difficulty is getting people to donate.

The misconception is that donating bone marrow is a difficult and painful process, when in fact joining the registry only takes a quick cotton swab of antigens in the mouth. Antigens contain information about your DNA composite, the type of blood and the type of marrow the body has. Antigens are found on white blood cells and tissues inside the mouth. Antigens are passed by parents, each parent giving an equal amount, but the combination of their makeup differs, just as looks differ between siblings.

St. Andrew’s Church, at the corner of Sheridan and Elmwood avenues, recently held a bone marrow donation drive. The drive was for people to come and have their antigens swabbed, registering them to be donors. St. Andrew’s found that leukemia and other diseases were closer to home than originally thought.

How St. Andrew’s got involved

The Rev. John Mack, pastor of St. Andrew’s, knew of an 8-year-old boy who had recently died in Batavia. The idea of a child dying from not having a marrow match, when all possibilities weren’t exhausted disturbed Rev. Mack.

“I had no idea what to do,” Rev. Mack said.

So he decided to put an announcement in the church’s bulletin to create awareness of the critical need of bone marrow donors. Church and community volunteers took things on from there and created a drive that could save lives.

Liz Ganci, Development director of business and management of St. Andrews church was a volunteer and one of the many organizers of the drive. There were about 40 volunteers, 10 of them being nurses, and many contributors of food and supplies from church members and the community. The entire cost of the drive was taken care of by Marrow Drive Rochester, an organization that works with the NMDP, and raised funds to hold the drive at St. Andrews.

“Our pastor was inspired to hold this event,” Ganci said.

And the difference one donation makes can have a huge impact on a patient’s life.

“I believe that spiritually and physically you could make a big change,” Mack said.

John Ford

It wasn’t until St. Andrew’s held the drive that many people of the church knew there was a patient among them, also waiting for a bone marrow donation.

John Ford, 28, was diagnosed July 2006 with lymphoma. What he first expected was a simple cold, Ford was taken to a local hospital and treated for pneumonia. After he finished his medication, he still wasn’t feeling well. It was when he left his office, on a hot summer day, when he knew something was wrong.

“I remember it was a Monday, and I felt like puddles of sweat,” he said.

Ford called the doctor, and an ambulance arrived.

“Twenty minutes later, I was taken to Roswell for chemotherapy treatments for cancer,” Ford said.

A bone marrow transplant is one option that Ford has to finding a cure. The possibility of finding a match is slim. Ford’s siblings registered, but found that they weren’t a match for him, but for one another. Siblings are the best option for finding a match, but some patients aren’t lucky enough to have family. 

“When someone is inflicted with cancer, they don’t have many options,” Ford said. “I was fortunate to have options.”

Donating

Donating bone marrow occurs only if you are a match for a patient. First, medical history and other criteria must be met for someone to register to donate. NMDP even offers a way to register through its website, www.marrow.org, which makes it convenient for donors to get involved. Sue Paprocki, chairperson for the Western New York chapter of NMDP, organized the collections from the drive.

“We coordinate the collections, and send them to Minnesota where antigens are identified with our nation wide registry, and look for a match,” she said.

Health guidelines

            People with the following conditions are ineligible to donate:

• HIV

• hepatitis

• heart disease or cancer

• chronic lung disease

• diabetes

• recent back surgery, or severe ongoing back problems

• significant obesity

• autoimmune/ neurological disorders (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, etc.)

Organ or marrow transplant recipients are also prohibited from donating. A donor must also be between the ages of 18 and 60, although children have frequently donated to a sibling in need of a transplant. According to the NMDP, since 1987, about 4,000 minorities have had transplants. The number of Caucasians with transplants is more than 20,000. The odds of finding a match are better with someone of the same gender, race and age, Paprocki said.

“Very often they don’t have a match. For some patients this is their only hope for life,” she said.

The difference

The impact of having donors is crucial to finding matches. Though there are thousands of matches, there are still many more patients needing transplants. Bill Weber, of Wheatfield, attended the drive in hopes of registering. He wasn’t able because he has pins and rods in his femur, which violates one of the criteria of medical history requirements.

“I think it’s very important to donate. If you can help someone, I think you should do it. You should show them someone who was affected by it, because if they had a donor, you could show how you could change their life,” he said.

Ford also realizes how important it is from first-hand experience.

“I remember all of the other sick people going through their journey,” Ford said. “In the five minutes it will take to sit down, give medical history, if this drive saves even one life, then it was all worth it.”

Contact Brittany Rae McDanel @ mcdabr77@buffalostate.edu