By all rights, human biology senior Tom Mikulski said he shouldn't have survived the initial medical treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma his mother received when she was pregnant with him 21 years ago.
But a little more than a year ago, Mikulski was able to return the gift of life to his mother, Ellen Mikulski, by donating stem cells for a bone marrow transplant that was needed to cure her lymphoma.
"I was awestruck and unbelieving that I could have a good, strong donor so close to my heart," said Ellen Mikulski, 58. "It's so ironic."
Bone marrow transplant matches are relatively rare. The more than 5.5 million registered donors on the National Marrow Donor Program Registry in the United States might wait years or never be found as a match in the registry, said Tom Nelis, a marrow stem cell recruiter for the Michigan Community Blood Centers.
But the center and Pre-Students of Osteopathic Medicine Association, or Pre-SOMA, are holding a registry drive for donors on campus today to increase the match odds.
A small sample of blood will be taken from possible donors, and information will be given about the program during the registry. Drives will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today in the Purdue Room of the Union and in the lower lounge of West Holmes Hall.
"It doesn't inconvenience the donor all that much, but it could save someone's life," said human biology senior Mark Petrocelli, president of Pre-SOMA.
Most bone marrow transplant recipients are treated for blood cancers. Stem cells from bone marrow are used to generate new blood to help cure the diseases.
There are many misconceptions when it comes to signing up to be a potential donor, Nelis said. Many don't know that initial sign up only requires a small blood sample.
"When people hear about it, they think we have to drill into their bone to add them," he said. "You could be that greatly needed individual."
There are many different genetic components that must be compatible for a donor to be a match, and a person of a different race or ethnicity cannot donate for a person of another background.
Minorities are severely misrepresented in the registry, and it is much harder for minorities to find a donor, he said.
Ellen Mikulski said she was lucky to know her donor because so many thousands of people still are searching. About 80 percent of all donors do not know their recipients.
"A lot of times, people aren't aware of the situation until they know someone and want to donate," she said. "But (registering) still helps us all out."
There are two different donation techniques if a person is chosen as a healthy match, Nelis said.
During an actual bone marrow donation, a patient is put under a general anesthetic while small incisions are made in the pelvic bone in a person's back just below the belt line. Small amounts of bone marrow are extracted through small holes created in the bone and stem cells are extracted.
"The pain is consistent with that of going ice skating and falling on your tailbone and feeling sore for a few days," Nelis said.
But about 70 percent of all donations are now peripheral blood stem cell donations, which involve a less invasive process, Nelis said. After taking medication to increase stem cell count, donors have blood drawn from one arm and it is processed in an apheresis machine to remove stem cells. The blood is then returned through the other arm.
The stem cells taken from the blood are then put into the recipient and begin to create new blood.
Tom Mikulski said, for him, the process took about seven hours.
"It was emotionally draining, but the benefit was worth it," he said.
His mother's immune system is still low, but her cancer is now in remission.
"The way it all works is miraculous," Ellen Mikulski said. "It's a life-changing procedure."
