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Bone marrow registry drive now through June 5

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 15th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii --  Anyone whose family member or friend has been touched by a blood disease such as leukemia knows that a bone marrow transplant can be the most critical life-saving option, yet only one out of 300 potential donors will match a patient in need. 

That's why Hickam Air Force Base is holding a bone marrow registry drive now through June 5. This year's goal is for 2,000 people to register with the National Marrow Donor Program, according to 2nd Lt. James Thompson III, who is running this year's drive. 

"People who register owe nothing else, unless they are contacted as a match for a patient," Lieutenant Thompson said. "It's a simple, five-minute procedure that includes filling out a consent form and swabbing your mouth, and doesn't commit you to anything additional." 

Anyone associated with Hickam AFB or the Department of Defense, including family members and civilian employees, is eligible to register, Lieutenant Thompson said. He was on the committee last year as the 15th Contracting Squadron's point of contact when 1,900 people from Hickam AFB volunteered to add their name to the national registry, increasing the odds that someone in need would have a donor match from the base, he said. 

Sure enough, "around October I was contacted and asked if I was still interested in participating as a donor, which I was," said donor registrant Air Force Reservist Senior Airman Suzanne Calimpong, a 624th Civil Engineer Squadron engineering assistant and L-3 communications contractor for the 15th CES. She went to Falls Church, Va., for the week-long donation procedure, which she called "painless." 

The procedure consisted of going to the clinic for a shot of Filgrastim (Neupogen) once a day for five days, she said. The medicine was used to draw the blood stem cells out from her bone marrow and into her bloodstream so it could be easily filtered from the blood. On the fifth day, the clinic staff performed the bone marrow draw. 

"The procedure was about six hours long and consisted of having a needle inserted into each arm, which was hooked up to a machine that would draw the blood, separate the stem cells from the blood, and return the cleaned blood back into my body," Ms. Calimpong said. 

Now, because of her donation, someone whose immune system was failing has a chance at life again. 

"This is an easy cause to be involved in, because you have the direct ability to help save someone's life," said Lieutenant Thompson, who has a wife and two children and said he can't imagine how he would feel if any of them were affected by a disease like leukemia. 

"Military servicemembers are a natural resource for bone marrow registry because they already have that sense of duty and commitment to going the extra mile to help others," he said. Additionally, military personnel meet the National Bone Marrow Donor Program's strict health and age requirements "more than any other large organization," according to the C.W. Bill Young DoD Marrow Donor Center. 

"Just knowing that someone's life was completely dependent on my donation was the reason I signed up to be a donor and why I will donate again if called upon," Ms. Calimpong said. "I [feel like] a changed person and a better person." 

Donation booths will be set up at the Hickam Base Exchange and Commissary during the last week of May and first week of June. Squadron POCs are also needed to help spread the word. For more information, contact Leiutenant Thompson at 448-2930 or Tech. Sgt. Donald Shevlin at 448-2957 or visit www.dodmarrow.com