Ray’s Donation Story
Ten years after Ray’s brother, Dwight donated peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), Ray was also given the extraordinary opportunity to save a life—but this time for his own son.The diagnosis and treatment plan
Ray’s son, Morgan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells, in 2008 at the age of 12 years old. Immediately after he was diagnosed, Morgan was sent to Denver to begin his aggressive treatment.
The approach to Morgan’s treatment was to kill the diseased blood cells at the different stages of development. The first stage, induction chemotherapy was intended to bring Morgan into remission. The second stage, consolidation was a second phase of chemotherapy intended to reduce the number of diseased cells in the body. The third and final stage, maintenance was intended to destroy any remaining diseased cells so that the leukemia was eliminated from Morgan’s body.
In 2010, Morgan relapsed. “We were told that Morgan would need a bone marrow transplant,” said Ray. “Those were doors we never wanted to have to go through.” And so began Morgan’s search for a match.
The slim chance of a related donor
When patients first begin their search for a donor, they look for a match within their immediate family. In most cases, 70% of patients do not have a suitable match in their family.
In his family, Morgan’s best chance for a match was with his brother—a 25% chance. When the results came back that his brother was not a match, Morgan’s parents got tested. Parents, because they only provide half of a child’s DNA have a slim 5% chance of being a match. Luckily, Ray was determined to be a match, and after further confirmatory blood testing, it was decided—Ray would donate bone marrow to Morgan.
“I was excited,” said Ray. “I am a full time firefighter and I’m used to fixing things, but at that moment I knew I could help save my son’s life.”
Donation day — The day that would change their lives
“The day of the transplant was like a wedding or a college graduation—it was a big day,” said Ray. The bone marrow donation itself was fairly uneventful for Ray. He felt a little discomfort from the intubation (insertion of a tube to help the patient breath while under general anesthesia), but it was minimal. Two days after his donation, Ray tried to climb up a flight of stairs and felt a lack of energy. However, after a week or two Ray was back to his old self. Doctors typically suggest that bone marrow donors take it easy the week following donation, because they might feel more tired as well as some slight lower back pain.
Rare connection between brothers
“It’s a unique and unusual bond that we have,” said Ray about his bond with his brother, Dwight, a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donor. “A rare circumstance that we can both claim that we are marrow donors, that we were able to make such a significant difference in someone’s life.”
Editor’s Note: Ray’s son, Morgan is currently in remission and just completed his 2 year checkup. Their family should receive his test results in about five months.
Friendship, Commitment Save a Life – Guy’s Story
Guy took his commitment to the registry just as seriously as he took his friendship. In 2004, he donated marrow to save the life of a young man he didn’t know. “I gave out of the original intent I joined for—that was for a friend of mine,” Guy said.
Five years later, he met Mark Schuh, the young man whose life he’d saved.
