Just imagine.
You've been happily married for more than 20 years, living in a small town about an hour north of Boston. You and your spouse have good jobs — with health insurance. You have three great kids: Jason, 18; Chris, 15; and Lauren, 12. All three do well in school, and each is active in a couple of different sports. Jason works at a local restaurant on the weekends. The picture of the perfect American family.
After a great family celebration of Thanksgiving 2006 with five of your siblings, their kids, and your parents, the hockey coach notices that Jason's skating is a little sluggish during practice. After Jason says that he's been feeling a little more tired than usual lately, you take him to the doctor for a checkup.
The doctor calls with the results of the blood tests, and instructs you to take Jason directly to Children's Hospital in Boston immediately — they'll be waiting for your arrival. Over the next few days, Jason is given several transfusions of blood. Within another few days, the doctors from Children's and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute determine Jason's diagnosis: myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare blood disease where the body makes only blood cells that are abnormal in size and distorted in shape. Left untreated, the disease can progress into leukemia. The treatment is a bone marrow transplant. Without a transplant, your son will die.
The doctors explain that the most likely match would be a sibling, up to a 100 percent match, either parent could be up to a 50 percent match. The family goes for testing. Great news... Chris is a perfect match! A tentative date for the transplant is scheduled, and the doctors do more tests on both Jason and Chris. Christmas is in a few days. Then the doctors call you in.
Chris is in the early stages of MDS. He, too, will need a bone marrow transplant to survive!
A month ago, everyone seemed healthy and happy. Today, you have not one, but two sons who are afflicted with a fatal disease. They both need bone marrow transplants. No one else in the family is a match. (The only good news is that their sister Lauren does not have MDS.) The solution: the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry.
Jason received a transplant at Children's Hospital on March 30, 2007 from a donor from Europe, found through the Registry. Although the doctors had thought Chris would be able to wait a year or two, his blood counts changed drastically during the summer, and he received his transplant on Aug. 30, 2007. His donor was also identified through the Registry. Jason is now off all restrictions, doing really well, and planning to attend college in the fall. For a full year, he had to stay mostly at home, away from other people after his transplant, to minimize exposure to germs.
Chris's transplant went well, but he has had several infections, and he spent months in Children's, missing his junior year in high school. He seems to have turned the corner and is improving, albeit very slowly. He, too, will remain on restrictions; in his case, through Aug. 30, one year after transplant. Mom and Dad took turns staying in the hospital when one or the other was in-patient, for nearly 10 months between December 2006 and February 2008. Children's Hospital and their staff are fabulous, and the Dana-Farber doctors have also been terrific.
Just imagine — if you were confronted with a child who needed a bone marrow transplant to survive, wouldn't you want as many people as possible available to match for your child (or other family member) in the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry? The donor goes into the hospital the day of the transplant, and is either released the same day or stays overnight. Isn't it worth one day of your time to save someone's life?
On Saturday, May 17, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Calvary Bible Church in Derry is hosting a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Bone Marrow Typing Drive in honor of Leigh Buckley. Signing up for the bone marrow registry is painless — just a cheek swab. Most insurance programs cover the cost. If you can't make the drive, you can go to www.marrow.org to sign up. Jason and Chris have both needed multiple blood transfusions as well as bone marrow donations, so blood donations are also crucial.
Please take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to attend the Bone Marrow Typing Drive in Derry on Saturday!
Just imagine. . . you, too, can be a hero and save someone's life!
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Elizabeth Durkin is a resident of Londonderry and the aunt of the two boys mentioned in the column.
