Document text
Marrow donor heads north Local woman signed up six years ago when a child needed help. This week she will be a donor for a 15-year-old who has leukemia By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Polly Williams may save a life Wednesday. Surgeons will remove bone marrow from Williams' pelvis and rush it to a 15-year-old boy who has life-threatening leukemia. If all goes as planned, Williams will spend an hour or two Wednesday on an operating table in Portland, drive home Thursday and return to work at Medford's Carpenter Foundation on Friday, while the boy begins a long journey toward a normal life. Williams' trip to Portland started six years ago, when a local child needed a bone-marrow transplant. She registered her bone marrow type with the National Marrow Donor Program, a Minneapolis-based organization that maintains a registry of potential donors. Her marrow didn't match the child's, but her name remained in the registry. She didn't think much about being a donor until her phone rang last spring. "The call came out of the blue," said Williams, who manages the programs of the Carpenter Foundation. "They said I was a possible match." Williams agreed to more laboratory testing to determine whether her marrow provided a suitable match. She also consented to a comprehensive physical examination to ensure that she would be a healthy marrow source. "They took lots of blood and said I was a match for a 15-year-old boy with an adult form of leukemia," she said. "That's all the information I get about him." The donor program preserves the anonymity of patients and donors to prevent coercion or guilt from entering the process, said Drew Ross, manager of marrow donor services for the American Red Cross in Portland. The Red Cross coordinates marrow donations in Oregon for the National Marrow Donor Program. "All we say is, 'She's a match,' " Ross said. "We don't even say whether she's the only match. Donors aren't coerced." Ross said about 30,000 people every year are diagnosed with diseases that can be treated with marrow transplants. Family members usually provide the best source of matching marrow, but genetic variables often preclude matches, even in large families. He noted that more than 13,000 marrow transplants have been conducted with matches found on the registry, which has grown to 4.6 million people since it was created in 1986. At any given time, 3,000 to 5,000 people are searching the marrow registry for a match. Williams' marrow, which looks rather like blood, will be transfused into the boy and find its way to the hollow spaces in his bones, replacing his sickened bone marrow. "What we hope is that the patient's body accepts the marrow and recognizes it as what's already been there," Ross said, "but rejection still happens." Williams said donating marrow made her realize how many people need help, and how quickly the need can arise. "I have a 16-year-old daughter," she said. "This (patient in need) could be her. I could be hoping that there's somebody out there who matches." For information about donating marrow, call 1-800-922-3998 or visit the Web site www.marrow.org Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.