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Having
experienced her sister dying of lymphoma in 2003 and having had
chemotherapy herself to treat her first bout of acute leukemia,
Ione Lusch Bulow seems unfazed that she once again is bald.
"This is the second time I have had to have chemotherapy,” said the Yuma
woman. "I was in remission for about a year after the last treatment, but then
I felt a lump in my throat earlier this year and I just knew it was the leukemia
again."
Because of the return of the cancer, Bulow is now forced to get a bone marrow
transplant in order to survive.
Although a bone marrow match has been located for her, she only feels a little
relieved at the moment.
"The donor is kept a secret from me for a year," she said. " I know it is a woman
and that she is Caucasian, and I know she already went in for a second blood
test, so that is really positive. But there is always that chance that this
won't work, but I try not to think about that right now."
Bone marrow transplants were once considered a last resort for leukemia patients,
but are now being used to treat many more diseases at an early onset stage, according
to the National Bone Marrow Transplant Link Web site.
Survival rates after the procedure have increased and recovery time for the patient
has been decreased since this procedure was first attempted in 1968.
There are several types of bone marrow transplant procedures, but the kind Bulow
is looking at is the allogeneic type.
Allogeneic bone marrow transplants are where a healthy donor gives up some bone
marrow to be placed into the diseased person in order to replace damaged bone
marrow in the recipient's body.
Bone marrow gets damaged by cancerous diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, breast
cancer, testicular cancer, myeloma and others. Bone marrow is a soft, spongelike
material found inside large bones in the body, like thigh bones, hip bones or
the breast bone.
Healthy bone marrow helps the patient's body replenish red blood cells and fight
infections and it assists in blood clotting.
According to the National Cancer Institute, survival rates for allogeneic bone
marrow transplants range between 25 to 65 percent after five years.
To find a match for a bone marrow transplant, a blood test must be performed
and the blood must be analyzed on 12 different points, Bulow said.
"The best thing is to get a match on as many of those criteria as possible," she
said. "The only way to get a 12 out of 12 match is to have a fraternal twin.
But it is possible to get an 11 out of 12 match, which is what they have found
for me.
"The more points that a donor matches on when the blood is broken down, the more
chance that the bone marrow transplant will work out," she continued. "If this
works, I will have a better chance of survival."
Bulow's blood match was located through the National Bone Marrow Bank.
In an effort to get more entries and help others as she will be helped, Bulow
and her friend, Debra Bordges, are organizing a bone marrow blood drive in
Yuma in order to "pay it forward."
"Because someone is willing to donate their bone marrow to help save Ione, that
is why we planned this with this bone marrow drive. We hope Yumans will step
up to the plate and donate blood and sign that waiver that allows us to enter
them into the National Bone Marrow Bank," Bordges said.
"We are having this blood drive in order to find people that may match with the
next person who comes along and may need a bone marrow match. Because I was lucky
and found a donor is no reason to cancel this drive. It is important to keep
adding to the bone marrow bank," said Bulow.
Bordges added, that her and Ione's faith is in the Lord and that she feels all
people are responsible to try and save a life if they can.
Bulow is the third local resident in recent months to seek a bone marrow match.
Isidro Lopez, a San Luis, Ariz., firefighter who has aplastic anemia, has found
four possible bone marrow transplant donors. However, it appears he may not need
to go through the procedure after all.
"Every week I go in and get my blood checked, and so far the white blood cell
counts are high and that is a good thing," Lopez said. "As long as I don't
have a relapse with my disease in the next year, I won't need to get a bone
marrow transplant."
Lance Cpl. Christopher LeBleu, who was diagnosed with acute liver failure early
this year, had a bone marrow drive in early April and was able to find a match
that very day.
"That bone marrow drive was a real success, because we had 210 people show up
to give blood and get registered in the National Bone Marrow Donor Bank and we
were able to find a match for LeBleu," said his case worker.
She added that the success of any bone marrow drive relates directly to how many
people turn up and give a blood sample.
It won't hurt, it's just a little pinprick, promise Bulow and Bordges of the
upcoming bone marrow blood drive that will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday
at Bible Baptist Church, 1780 E 24th St.
"We will have free cookies and juice and I am trying to get some entertainment
for us," Bordges said. "I just want people to come out and get their blood
tested. This is for a good cause, it is to save someone's life. We need minorities
most of all."
Because there are so few minorities registered with the National Bone Marrow
Bank, they will be tested for free. There is a $65 charge for Caucasians.
For more information about the upcoming blood drive or entering the National
Bone Marrow Bank, call Bordges 783-6115.
For more information on bone marrow transplants, visit http://www.bmtinfonet.org
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