Volunteers sign up for bone marrow registry

The Lebanon community responded enthusiastically to a call for help last weekend.

A bone marrow registration drive held at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital drew a very strong turnout, a hopeful sign for the family of a local man who needs a transplant.

The event was held to benefit Gary Pool, Jr., a Lebanon resident who was diagnosed with leukemia in August. In September, doctors decided Pool needed a transplant. When none of his siblings were a match, his mother, Rowena Pool, called both LCH and the National Marrow Donor Program to organize a drive.

Of the 75 people who showed up to register on saturday, 55 met the requirements and completed the tissue test.

"We consider that a big success," said LCH public relations coordinator Ian Rollins. He added that Delores Rue-Jones of the National Marrow Donor Program, who oversaw the drive, told him 30 was generally a good turnout.

Should any of the 55 people who registered Saturday be a match for Pool, they won't know for another four to six weeks, which is how long it takes to test the tissue samples.

Pool is not the only Lebanon resident depending on a bone marrow transplant.

Alicia VanDriel, 47, was scheduled to undergo a transplant last weekend at Oregon Health Science University (OHSU). Her donor, found through the registry, is a 33-year-old woman from outside the United States.

"So many people don't know that they're needed in that way, in that capacity; that they can register so easily with a blood test and a swab of their mouth," VanDriel said.

Saturday's drive was of the latter type, with participants swiping the inside of their mouths four times and putting the swabs in a sealed envelope for testing.

VanDriel moved to the Lebanon area more than a decade ago. She lived north of town, next to a farm that was sprayed with pesticides. It didn't bother her at the time.

"I just loved living there," she said. "It was so beautiful."

But now, with a diagnoses of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), she thinks back to those pesticides.

"I sometimes wonder if that's where I got it," she said.

She always had good health, and never drank or smoked.

"I'm a very healthy person," she said. "But all of a sudden last January, my knees swelled up and I ended up in a wheelchair for several months."

The swelling spread to her ankles and shoulders and baffled doctors, who initially thought it was rheumatoid arthritis. Other symptoms, including fever, chills and vomiting complicated the puzzle.

From January to June, VanDriel lived with the mystery ailment. In June, the lab called after testing her blood. She was told to go to the emergency room. She did, and from there was sent immediately to OHSU.

"I've since discovered if you have sudden joint pain, not gradual… do watch it and get yourself checked out," she said.

Even with the transplant, VanDriel's prognosis is complicated. Her leukemia has a "tag" on it, FLT-3.

"That kind of makes it harder, because it's kind of ingrained itself into my body," she said.

She said her chances of recovery are 30-40 percent for her age, but she'll take those odds.

"I believe because I've done so well and my doctors are so encouraging, I believe that it's going to be gone" after the transplant, she said.

She has been in remission since June, and a bone marrow test this month didn't find any leukemia.

"The problem with having that marker on my genes is they say it always comes back once it's kind of ingrained itself," she said.

After the transplant, it will take about four months for the donor marrow to create a new immune system for VanDriel.

Some people, she noted, end up on medication for the rest of their lives.

"But if you get your life back, it's worth it," she said.

If a match hadn't been found, VanDriel would be looking at a lot more chemo. And probably, at some point, her internal organs would fail from the chemo or the leukemia. For the 33-year-old woman who registered, "I'll be forever grateful," VanDriel said.

Donor drives like the one last weekend are held whenever and wherever people request one. A hospital isn't necessary.

"Anyone in the community that would like to host a drive, we will work with them," Rue-Jones said.

The registration forms ask the donor to identify his ethnicity. Recipients are most likely to be matched with people who share their racial background. Saturday's drive was free for people of Hispanic origin, thanks to a grant; others were asked to give a $25 tax-deductible donation to help cover the costs of testing.

"We would love to exhaust that grant," Rue-Jones said. "It would mean we have as many ethnic groups as we do Caucasians, but unfortunately, we don't."

It's just one more reason she tries to get people signed up. The primary reason is obvious.

"You can be the one to save a life," she said.

What would VanDriel tell other people to convince them to register?

"That it's not the painful process that it used to be," she said. "That they could give life to a child, an adult anybody in the world. You never know who you'll match."

To register as a bone marrow donor, visit www.marrow.org. Online registration costs $52 and is available by ordering a tissue-typing kit.