'If You Knew Saving a Life Was Easy, Would You Try?'

Photo By Lt. Kelli Roesch | Petty Officer 2nd Class Petty Officer Kenneth Boyce, hospital corpsman, a native of Spokane, Wash., returns pills to a medicine bottle as part of his duties at the Expeditionary Medical Facility pharmacy, at Life Support Area, Kuwait. Boyce donated bone marrow to a cancer patient twice while stationed stateside as part of the C.W. Bill Young/Department of Defense Bone Marrow Donation Program. According to the program, more than 500 of the 30,000 people diagnosed each year with serious or fatal diseases that require bone marrow transplants to save their life are children and adults associated with the Department of Defense. Boyce hopes to meet the woman whose life he saved after he completes his tour of duty in the middle east.  

LIFE SUPPORT AREA, KUWAIT

06.11.2009

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Kelli Roesch 

Media Transition Team - Kuwait

LIFE SUPPORT AREA, KUWAIT -- If you knew saving a life was easy, would you try? Petty Officer 2nd Class Petty Officer, hospital corpsman, Kenneth Boyce did it, not just once, but twice, and he classifies it as "wonderful." Through the C.W. Bill Young/Department of Defense Bone Marrow Donation Program, Boyce and about 1,700 other DoD volunteers have provided marrow to a stranger and helped save their lives. It was that easy.

Boyce, who works in the pharmacy at the Expeditionary Medical Facility at Life Support Area, Kuwait doesn't remember much about the day in 2005 when a Navy nurse came to his ship and asked for volunteers to submit cheek swabs on long cotton tipped applicators. The Spokane, Wash., native promptly forgot about the event until he got a call in 2007 telling him he was a potential match for a 43-year-old woman with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The donor center wanted to know if he would be interested in donating his bone marrow if he turned out to be the patient's best match. His answer was yes. Several months later in 2008 when the patient had a relapse, he said yes again.

According to the C.W. Bill Young/ DoD Bone Marrow Donation Program more than 30,000 people in the United States are diagnosed each year with leukemia, aplastic anemia, or other fatal blood diseases that require bone marrow transplants to save their life. Of those, more than 500 of them are children and adults associated with the Department of Defense. For many, a bone marrow transplant is their only hope of survival. About 75 percent of the patients in need of a marrow transplant cannot find a match within their own family. That's why a strong national database is essential for identifying potential donors.

There are more than six million registered donors on the National Marrow Donor Program registry. Yet, there are still patients who lose their battle with their disease because a bone marrow match cannot be found in the registry.

The larger and more diverse the NMDP registry becomes, the greater the chance of finding life saving matches. Tissue types are inherited and some tissue types are unique to certain racial or ethnic groups, a person's best chance is within his or her ethic and racial group. People with ethnic diversity in their family tree are especially needed to register as potential donors.

As with Boyce, the process starts with a simple cheek swab. The swab samples are then tested to determine the human leukocyte antigen or tissue type and the results are added to the NMDP registry where it remains until your 61st birthday. That's the end unless the computer finds a potential match with a patient needing bone marrow. If you are a match, a donor coordinator from the C.W. Bill Young/DoD Marrow Donor Center works with you to determine if you are willing to proceed. After being fully informed about the donor experience, you make the decision, with the support of family and friends, whether or not to become a marrow donor. Boyce said there was absolutely no pressure or requirement to donate his marrow but he also knew that he has the last hope for the recipient. "You are aware that without your marrow the patient will die. But it's still your choice,' he said.

Boyce and his dad spent seven days in Washington, D.C., with all costs paid for, including his medical and testing fees, and all lodging, food, and travel related expenses for both of them. Boyce went in daily for six days for an injection of synthetic hormones to increase the number of blood stem cells in his bloodstream. The rest of the day he and his dad were free to explore the D.C. area. On the seventh day, he received two shots, ate breakfast, and prepared to donate. The medical personnel removed Peripheral Blood Stem Cells in what Boyce describes as a simple process. "About 80 percent of the time or more bone marrow donation is just like a plasma donation. So it's pretty easy," said the 29 year old. Similar to a plasma donation, blood is removed through a sterile needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood stem cells, with the remaining blood returned to the body through the other arm. There are some side effects. However, Boyce said his experience was relatively painless. "I had headaches for a few days while receiving the injections, but they went away the day after the donation and I went home," he remarked.

Probably the scariest thought in most people's mind about bone marrow donation is the outdated idea of a long needle being inserted into their hip and weeks of recovery. "It is not too often taken out of the hip like most people think it is," said Boyce. When bone marrow donation is performed in this manner, the donor is under general or local anesthesia and usually stays overnight. Donors may feel soreness in their lower back for a few days, but are also back to work in a few days. Marrow is completely replaced within four to six weeks in the donor's body.

The DoD program also has another important and very unique mission. It acts as a database to provide immediate donor searches in the event of a mass casualty incident involving nuclear or chemical agents. Military casualties may be saved using HLA matched platelets or, in cases of more severe exposure, marrow donated by a volunteers. Once potential donors are in the system, the additional mission of the program allows donors to be found in a matter of days rather than months.

Boyce hasn't met the woman whose life he has saved, but hopes to get the opportunity when he returns from deployment in the Middle East. He also encourages as many people as possible to get registered. "The more people that register as a potential bone marrow donor the better chance very sick patients have to survive their disease," he said.

All active duty military members and their family members, DoD civilian employees, Coast Guard and National Guard/Reserve personnel are eligible to register in the C.W. Bill Young /DoD Bone Marrow Donation Program. Potential donors should be 18 to 60 years old and in good health. Registration is free and takes only about 5-10 minutes. More information can be found on the internet at www.dodmarrow.com or at local Troop Medical Clinics.

Camps Arifjan and LSA held Bone Marrow Registration Drives in May with 270 potential new donors signing up to perhaps someday save a life. It was that easy.

• Date Taken: 06.11.2009
• Date Posted: 06.11.2009 07:21
• Story ID: 34880
• Location: LIFE SUPPORT AREA, KW