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Match-making that saves lives |
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
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By Ken Koerner
Register Staff 4-3-2008
Heroes come in many shapes and sizes and heroic acts do, too. This week in Bishop, a simple action could lead to a life-saving event thanks to a bone marrow donor drive currently underway.
Every day more than 6,000 men, women and children desperately search the National Marrow Donor Program Registry for a marrow match that may save their life, according to local marrow donor activist Jean Sprague.
“This month’s drive represents an incredible opportunity for anyone to learn whether they could save a life,” Sprague said. “Leukemia patients are clinging to life in hospitals around the world needing a donor match that could lead them back toward a healthy life.”
Part of what makes this month’s drive an “exceptional opportunity,” according to Sprague, is that fact that “the usual $50 fee to be included in the national marrow database is being totally waived – and we’ve made it so easy to participate that anyone can fit it into even the busiest of day’s schedule.”
This donor drive in Bishop came about when Sprague, along with her colleague, Vicka Stout, became aware of a Mammoth Lakes family that was desperately searching for a donor match for a father with leukemia. As the two Bishop women began discussing how to best get potential marrow donors to travel to Mammoth in support of this family’s search, they determined “the best contribution to be made might just be to have a donor drive right here in Bishop.”
“As Vicka and I were talking about this great donor need so many families are facing, we thought immediately about one of our own Bishop families having faced that situation not long ago,” said Sprague. “Shannon Dumas was an amazing Bishop High student that had contracted leukemia. By the time that a marrow donor match had been found for Shannon, it was just too late to provide the result she needed. Her health had been so compromised by that point that she wasn’t able to survive.”
Sprague and Stout contacted Shannon’s family to ask for their support for the idea of making a local marrow donor drive an opportunity for the community to honor their daughter.
“The family was completely supportive of honoring Shannon’s memory in connection with a registration drive,” Sprague said. “Shannon lost her battle with this disease three years ago, on April 6 – and we feel it’s so fitting that this is happening right now and that on April 7, we’ll be holding a donor registration event at Bishop Union High School in her honor, where Shannon had so many friends among students, teachers and staff.”
Shannon Dumas was only two months shy of her high school graduation when she died. Her memory remains vividly recalled by many that knew her there. A number of current students are taking part in this registration effort.
“We learned that the Native American Student Association (NASA), the Latino Club and the ASB (Associated Student Body) kids have been looking for ways to further unite these student leadership groups at Bishop High,” said Sprague, “and this collaborative effort working with the donor registration drive is one example of that happening.”
The under-representation of some groups within the national bone marrow donor registration database, Sprague explained, is another beneficial aspect of this student collective.
“There is a great need for Native American, Latino, Asian and African-American donors to be identified,” Sprague said. “Thanks to the inclusion of NASA and Latino Club students we’re far more likely to help mobilize potential donors in those essential population groups to come forward this week and add themselves to the registry.”
A potential donor’s visit to one of the registration sites should take no more than about 15 minutes of his or her time, according to Sprague. The sites scheduled include the Toiyabe Indian Health Center, in the conference room on April 4, from 2-5 p.m., the First Methodist Church’s Adult Lounge on April 5, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., the Bishop Union High School library on April 7, from 2-4 p.m., and at Brown’s Town Campground on April 12, from 9-11 a.m.
Beyond those staffed sites, there is also a “Donor In A Box” option that provides the maximum flexibility of time and place. A donor registration packet will be available alongside a “Donor Box” that enables anyone to simply fill out the required forms, take a cotton swab to the inside of their cheek and then place those materials in a provided envelope and into the waiting box. If time doesn’t even allow for that to happen in a single visit, residents can pick up the donor packet, take it with them and return it the next or another day.
“Donor In A Box” locations can be found at each of the Bishop public schools, Northern Inyo Hospital, the Toiyabe Clinic, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bishop Police Department, where the donor box can be accessed 24/7.
Beyond the donor registration fee being waived during this month’s drive, Sprague explained, there is also never a cost to be paid by any potential donor if a needed match is located.
“The patient needing the marrow donation’s insurance will cover absolutely all of the costs that would come along with actually making the marrow donation possible,” said Sprague. “And there’s no need for someone to travel any great distance for the procedure. All those details will be handled with the donor and for the donor, then the marrow itself would be flown to the waiting patient.”
Though there are “no needles” involved with the process to be included in the national donor database, Sprague explained, should a match be made there would be some minimal discomfort felt following the actual marrow donation.
“Most donors report feeling some soreness in the area of their hip (the location where the needle-extraction would occur) for about three days afterwards,” Sprague said, “but it’s not all that intense – and it’s a tiny cost when the end result is giving another person their only chance to live.”
For additional information, contact Jean Sprague at (760) 873-9293 or visit www.marrow.org.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 May 2008 )
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