Will you be someone's lifeline?
Bridget O'Connor
Who You Gonna Call?
Do you know who your lifeline would be? Sophomore Conor Murphy is hoping to find his. Diagnosed with leukemia early this semester, Conor is relying on a bone marrow transplant. The Notre Dame community has a chance to help Conor find his match tomorrow at the bone marrow drive that is being held at LaFortune Student Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Even if it turns out that a match is not found for Conor through the drive this Wednesday, his situation alerts us to the plight of other patients with various types of leukemia, aplastic anemia, severe combined immune deficiency syndrome, sickle cell anemia and radiation poisoning who depend on bone marrow transplantation for their treatment.
More than the marrow itself, these patients rely upon each of us to recognize the importance of becoming a part of the National Bone Marrow Registry. The odds of finding a suitable marrow donor are 1 in 20,000, although this figure is much higher for patients of minority ethnic heritage. Since the National Marrow Donor Program's inception in 1987 more than 3,000,000 volunteer donors have signed onto its Registry and as a result more than 9,000 patients have had a second chance at life.
And it's as easy as a blood test. You must be between 18 and 60 years old; have no history of hepatitis, heart disease, cancer, or AIDS and sign a standard consent form allowing the Registry to include your HLA tissue type in its confidential files for future matching. HLA, or Human Leukocyte Antigen, equates to your genetic human fingerprint and is determined by tissue typing or molecular typing the white blood cells.
Some students have expressed their reluctance to participate in the drive because they will be included in the registry until their 61st birthday or because they do not want a financial obligation to donate. Participants should be aware however that they can remove their name from the registry at any time and even if they wind up being a match for someone, the entire process is voluntary. Further, the costs of all procedures are borne by the patient and his or her insurance company.
Probably the most common concern is what the actual donation process entails if someone does wind up being a match. The marrow extraction is done under light anesthesia. Only 2 to 3 percent of a donor's marrow is extracted and a donor may go home the same day or the following morning. The most common side effect is soreness in the lower back area for a few days. The donation does not curtail daily activities and the marrow regenerates within a few weeks. Donors can even donate again in the future.
Risks are generally limited to that associated with the anesthesia and are the same as for any procedure performed under general or local anesthetic. Thousands of transplants are successfully conducted every year.
As for Conor, he may actually already have a match. A 41-year old man was found to be a six out of six match for him and is now entering into the secondary phases of exploring whether the match will work. However, as this process is voluntary until the final stage, there is no guarantee that this match will result in a transplant for Conor.
According to his friends, Conor is currently overcoming some infections and the effects of chemotherapy. Although tired and thin, his spirits are high. He and a group of people say the rosary nightly and often offer their intentions for the people who do not have the support that he has. His ability to continue to focus on others despite the urgency of his own situation has amazed his friends and family. In fact, it is his concern for others rather than for himself that is the motivation behind tomorrow's drive. Conor understands that someone is giving this gift to him and he wants as many people to be helped in the same way as possible.
Even before the match was found, he realized that this drive would be important even if it only helped some other person somewhere else.
A strong turnout this tomorrow would not only show Conor that those back on campus are pulling for him, but that we understand the overall importance of the Registry. Who knows what the results could be? Maybe someone will wind up directly helping Conor. Maybe they will be the lifesaving match for someone else. Maybe someday one of us will need a lifeline. Who knows?
Bridget O'Connor is a senior government major with a concentration in Irish studies.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Tuesday, March 28, 2000
