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Aplastic Anemia News - Return to News Menu
Officers urge others to get involved
By RICHARD ECKE
Tribune Staff Writer
March 28, 2006 - Capt. Janelle Rust, a missile officer at Malmstrom Air Force Base, says it feels good to save someone's life.
In 2003, Rust donated bone marrow to a Rochester, Minn., girl named Rilee Bjerke, who had severe aplastic anemia.
Bone marrow transplants often are a last resort for people dying from cancers of the blood or the lymphatic system. Bone marrow registries help medical people find compatible bone marrow in healthy volunteers.
Great Falls area residents have a chance to become listed on the National Marrow Donor Program registry by going to the Civic Center Friday and signing up.
The donor program assists 2,500 bone marrow or blood-cell transplants each year in the United States and through affiliated programs in other countries.
At first, Rust didn't think much about donating a pint of her bone marrow to the youngster, who is now 6 and healthy. It was the first bone-marrow transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester using an unrelated donor.
"It's like donating blood," Rust said. "You never see who your blood goes to."
More than a year later, in December 2004, Rust met the girl, who was cute as a button and in fine health, at a bone-marrow conference in Washington, D.C.
"I wasn't sure what I had done until I saw the family and saw the looks on their faces," Rust said Monday.
Rust didn't think she would cry when she met the youngster.
She was wrong.
"Boom, everyone's crying, everyone in the entire hall," she recalled. "It was amazing. I got to hug her, hug the whole family. She was adorable."
Rust joined the bone marrow donor registry while attending Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama in 2001.
Then in July 2003, Rust received a telephone call. She and two other people were potential matches for the girl. Rust proved to be the best match.
In August 2003, Rust flew to Washington, D.C., to donate marrow. Medical people removed the marrow with a needle. Her hip was sore for a few days, and she was tired for about a week. That was it.
Two summers later, Tech Sgt. Chad Ballance from Malmstrom made the same trip.
Ballance turned out to be a perfect match for a 27-year-old man battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the blood more common in children than adults. Survival rates for adults from that disease are only 20 to 40 percent, according to one estimate.
But the recipient survived and appears to be doing well, according to Ballance.
"Both our recipients are in full remission," Ballance said.
Ballance treats his donation matter-of-factly, and he chose not to reveal his identity to the patient who received his marrow.
Rust opted to reveal her identity, in case the girl and her family wanted to meet her. They did.
Ballance explained it's easy to sign up for registry. For Great Falls area residents who would like to help, joining the marrow registry Friday should only take about 15 minutes.
Volunteers complete a consent form, and then use four swabs to collect cells from his or her mouth. It's painless.
Offering cell samples to be placed on the registry and getting the marrow analyzed is free. The Department of Defense has expanded its underwriting of the registry process beyond military personnel to civilians. In past years, civilians had to pay about $50 to cover the costs of having bone marrow type analyzed.
Volunteers will receive a registration card from the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Donor Center in Maryland. Information is sent on to the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., where marrow type is determined and entered into the national marrow registry.
If a volunteer agrees to join the registry, there's a chance he or she could be asked to donate actual bone marrow to attempt to save a sick person's life. There's no obligation for people on the registry to donate.
If your bone marrow matched that of someone seeking a transplant, you might be able to save that person. And you're not required to pay to fly to Washington, D.C., or for room and board. Typically, the recipient's health insurance pays.
In another positive development, most actual marrow donors give up marrow through a process similar to giving blood, without a poke in the hip from a long needle like that experienced by Rust and Ballance.
Pros And Cons Of Cord Blood Storage Or Cord Blood Banking
Saurabh Jain
June 19, 2007 - This new medical promise of treating diseases through stem cell cord blood banking has drawn the attention of a large mass. However, there are mixed opinions regarding umbilical stem cell cord blood. There are certain issues like ethics, racial groups, family history of genetic disorders, and others that dominate the decision for cord blood storage.
Factors To Be Considered For Cord Blood Donation
# Recipient’s compatibility – due to the immaturity of the stem cells present in cord blood, the recipient has a reduced risk of graft vs. host disease, which is a potentially serious immune response.
# Convenience – it is easier to regain cord blood than bone marrow. This is because it is stored cryogenically and is readily available for transplant. It is hard to find bone marrow donor and its retrieval process is intricate.
# Ethnic or racial groups - Race and ethics come in the way of bone marrow donation. Cord blood banking, in which cord blood is stored during childbirth, comes to the rescue at the time of need.
# Free services – for families who are unable to afford the cost of cord blood registry, there are certain private banking companies that have come forward to provide free services.
PROS
# The major advantage of saving cord blood is that it is readily available at the time of saving the life of someone. The stem cells are already stored at the cord blood bank, hence, can be readily available in case the need arises for transplant.
# There is no pain or other harm involved in cord blood collection to either the mother or baby. It is a very simple process carried out immediately after delivery.
# Cord blood cells have the potential to help in the treatment of more than 50 diseases including leukemia, critical sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia, and others.
# Stem cell cord blood has higher probability of becoming the perfect match for family members and relatives and has no risk of rejection by the recipient’s body.
CONS
# There are no exact estimates to confirm that an average child without any risk factor will utilize her own saved cord blood.
# The commercial cord-blood bank demands about $1,500 for cord blood registry, not mentioning the $100 maintenance fee every year.
# Besides this, you may have to shell out a few hundred dollars to obtain the cord blood collection kit, for courier charges, and for initial steps of cord blood banking.
# Most of the stem cell transplants are done only on kids or adolescents. Moreover, cord blood stem cells are not sufficient for an adult transplant. A large-sized person needs a larger amount of blood forming stem cells for a successful transplant.
# There is no concrete evidence that states that stem cells of a relative provide a greater success rate than those drawn from a stranger. Both the donors have equal success rate because the cord blood stem cells are immature, therefore, it doesn’t matter if there is no perfect match for getting an unbeaten bone marrow transplant.
# Doctors have little experience in cord blood stem cell transplantation.
# Some medical experts are of the view that an ill child receiving her own cord blood stem cells may become prone to get the same disease again. However, there is no medical evidence proving it true.
Cord blood storage might become a new trend very soon. However, the decision to go for cord blood banking is entirely yours. In addition, you have to decide well in advance of the due date because once you lose the precious blood, you cannot regain it. Anyways, it’s good to have something to fall back upon at times of emergencies, isn’t it?
Cord blood banking is mushrooming these days. Know whether your baby’s cord blood is really in a secure position. Can it be used after 20 years, if your little darling or any other member of your family needs it? Cord Blood Banking answers these and many more questions related to cord blood storage, cord blood banking, cord blood donation, and selecting the right cord blood registry.
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