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A Life is Being Saved through the "Teamsters Care Program"
8/15/2007

UPDATED!  Tracy Connolly from the NYS Building Trades has announced that her husband has been identified as a bone marrow match to 16 year old in Minnesota.

Several years ago, Tracy Connolly and her husband Bob registered with the National Bone Marrow Registry through Teamsters Local 294's "Teamsters Care" Program.     Bob has been identified as a match.

The Connolly's will be traveling to Syracuse for a comprehensive physical and pre-op consultation on June 28.  On July 25, they will return to Syracuse for the collection of bone marrow from Bob's hips.  The marrow will immediately be flown to Minnesota where a 16 year old boy with Severe Aplastic Anemia will be awaiting the transplant.  Without the transplant, the young man's outlook is bleak.

The success rate for such a transplant is 60% - 80%.  There is an 18% chance that the procedure will have to be done twice.  We're wishing this young man the best of luck for a successful transplant. 

UPDATE:  Bob went through a procedure called peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation on Monday, August 6th.  He was unable to donate marrow using the traditional method due to the fact that he had undergone back surgery in the past.  Peripheral blood stem cell donation can be an equally effective way to donate marrow....once the recipient receives the transplant, the cells are programmed to know what to do....produce healthy marrow.

In order to undergo PBSC donation, Bob had to receive a high dose of  a chemotherapy drug for five straight days.  This tricked his body into thinking it had to fight cancer and caused his cells to multiply very rapidly.  On the fifth day, he underwent the procedure which involved having a vascular catheter inserted into his groin and then being hooked up to a machine that drew his blood, spun it, separated the plasma and stem cells, and then returned the remaining blood back to his body.  The plasma and stem cells were immediately flow to the recipient who underwent the transplant the following day.

For further information about bone marrow donation, or to learn how to become a potential donor, please visit www.marrow.org

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