The Etownian >> Features
Student donates bone marrow to stranger, shares story
Thursday November 12 2009
Randall and Allison Krieder stand amidst the bone marrow drive they ran in 2007. An Etown student was recently selected as a bone marrow donor for a woman with leukemia.
She entered the Be the Match registry when there was a drive held at Etown two years ago by Allison and Randall Kreider, a former swim coach and current volleyball coach respectively, in honor of their son.
Hopkins was contacted last summer. “I was called to be a potential donor, so I had to get blood drawn. The first time I was called as a potential match, I was told that I was not a 10/10 match. This time, however, they told me I am a 10/10 match, so they want me to donate as soon as possible,” she said.
The 10/10 refers to the ability for one person to donate organs and bone marrow to another. Essentially there are 10 antigens on most cells in the human body. Antigens are markers used by cells to identify one another. Depending on genetics, people can have very different types of these 10 antigens. If they don’t match up, the immune system of the recipient will reject the donor’s organ and attack it as a foreign invader.
It is very rare to find a 10/10, or a perfect, match so sometimes the doctors will settle for a 9/10 match or 8/10 match, depending on the situation.
There are two types of donations that are used. The first is a bone marrow donation ,and the other is a PBSC donation, which Hopkins will be doing. A bone marrow donation is a surgical procedure in which the donor is placed under general anesthesia. Doctors remove bone marrow from the pelvic bone using a hollow needle. The donor will feel as though they slipped on some ice but will experience no major pain.
A PBSC donation is a lot like donating plasma. This process is a way to collect blood-forming cells for transplantation. The donor takes injections of filgrastim, which moves blood-forming cells out of the marrow and into the blood stream. The donor’s blood is removed from one arm, passed through a machine that separates the blood-forming cells from the rest of the blood, and the remaining blood is returned to the donor through their other arm.
Hopkins has no idea who she is donating to, except that her bone marrow will go a 37-year-old woman with acute cancer. “When anyone hears about a bone marrow donation, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘that’s really painful,’ so I wasn’t too energetic about it. But as I talked to my mom and people from the registry I became more excited that I was going to be able to really help someone,” Hopkins said.
One year after the transplant, if both the recipient and Hopkins agree, they can meet or talk to one another.
Allison Kreider said that she was thrilled to have one of the students here at Etown be selected as a final donor for someone. That is why she works so hard to host the registry drives. “The drives bring awareness and help to expand the registry. Oftentimes there are very few matches, and so many cannot find a match on the registry. By having these drives, it helps to increase the likelihood that they will find a suitable match,” Kreider said. She hopes to hold another drive in the Etown community in the near future.
There is no cost at all to the donor except for travel expenses. All the medical costs are covered by the “Be the Match” foundation or the recipient’s medical insurance.
This donation gives someone a second chance at life. The donor’s marrow will regenerate in four to six weeks.
Kreider is happy that her drive paid off for someone, and it shows the Etown student body how important this process is. “It hit home because she is so young. She is my hero,” Kreider said.
If you would like additional information about becoming a donor or the donation process, visit http://www.marrow.org.
The Etownian >> Features