Nikhil Gheewala - Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Donor
I have been happy to be a regular blood donor for a few years, and thanks to Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and the National Marrow Donor Registry, I also have had the privilege of taking part in a marrow donation. I have been told people have spent their whole lives on the registry without being called. I was given the opportunity only a few months after I joined the registry! I got a call from Martha, the coordinator at The Blood Center, explaining that a boy with leukemia needed a marrow donation, and my initial screening suggested I could be a match. I agreed to go forward in the process and came in to The Blood Center, so Martha could explain the process, and so I could provide a blood sample to see how closely my blood matched the recipient's. After a few weeks, Martha called again. My blood wasn't perfect, but it was a good match, and we needed to schedule the donation. I underwent a peripheral blood stem cell donation, which is different from the traditional process I had known of. Instead of having doctors insert a needle into my hip to extract blood cells, I could just sit in a chair for a few hours, just like an apheresis blood donation. The key to this process was a drug called Filgrastim, the same type of drug often given to marrow recipients! Filgrastim encouraged my marrow's stem cells to replicate and to move out of my marrow into my bloodstream, where it could be collected through apheresis. Martha and I discussed some very rare side affects and I decided I wanted to go through with the donation. To protect his privacy, I didn't know much about the boy with leukemia, but I knew that if I could help give him the chance to be healthy, it was worth the small risk.
How the Donation Process Worked
For four days preceding the donation, I went to the The Blood Center to receive injections of Filgrastim and give small blood samples to track my white blood cell count. It took about 5 to 10 minutes each day on my way to work. On the day of the donation, I met Martha at a nearby hospital. I had been to the hospital a couple of weeks earlier to meet the doctors overseeing the donation and fill out paperwork. Once I received my last injection and everything was set, I sat in the donation chair with tubes connected to both my arms. From there on out, all I had to do was sit. Blood was pulled from my left arm, processed by the collection machine and returned to my right arm. To me, it was just like an apheresis donation, but with two arms instead of one. Every once in a while, I would ask for something to eat or drink, or for a TUMS to keep my blood calcium levels up. The donation process took longer than expected -- 7 hours instead of 4 --- so I got to watch Rice play in the College World Series on the TV attached to my chair. To be truthful, their loss to LSU was more painful than the donation! At the end of the donation, I got bandages on both my arms, and after resting for a little while, I was on my way home. Meanwhile, Martha was on her way with my donation. I didn't know it at the time, but my stem cells were going to Hungary! Some time after the donation, Martha informed me that the donation was a success and the little boy was living happily in Budapest. It's such a wonderful feeling to know I was able to help a stranger defeat a horrible disease. If I ever have the chance, I will definitely do it again.