Department of Internal Medicine Participants 'Celebrate Life' at transplant reunion  Roger D. Gingrich, M.D., Ph.D. Professor Director, Adult Blood & Marrow Transplantation Program Associate Director for Clinical Services, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Director, Cancer Center Protocol Review Committee
10/18/2007 Approximately 400 patients who have received a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant, their related and unrelated donors, families, and caregivers attended the 10th annual Celebrating Life Reunion on October 19, 2007 at the Quality Inn & Suites in Iowa City. The reunion event wass sponsored by the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Programs at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the Iowa Marrow Donor Program. One of the many special moments that occuredr during the reunion was the first-ever meeting between a patient and the man who saved his life more than 12 years ago. Brad Livingston of Peoria Heights, Ill., at the time age 39, was diagnosed with leukemia during the holiday season in 1994. He learned that his best chance to survive was to undergo a marrow transplant, but he was devastated to find out that no one in his family shared his tissue type. The search began for a matched donor from the pool of healthy volunteers registered worldwide. In early 1995, a match was found. Livingston received his transplant on March 23, 1995. He had been waiting ever since to thank the special person who saved him. Although unrelated donations are anonymous for the first year, many patients and donors have the opportunity to meet following this waiting period. Livingston called UI Hospitals and Clinics in 1996 about contacting his donor. The search to identify Livingston's hero took more than 10 years. On Friday, Livingston will come face-to-face with Andrew Bowman, the Ferrum, Va. man whose act of kindness has led to a rich and full life for Livingston. Specialists at UI Hospitals and Clinics performed the first marrow transplant there in 1980. Since then, more than 1,700 people have received transplants there. The unit currently transplants more than 75 people each year. Roger Gingrich, M.D., Ph.D., directs the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Programs and serves as associate director for clinical affairs in the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI. "As a transplant team, our goal is to restore people back to their lives," Gingrich said. "When patients come and stay with us for their transplants, we see them at their most vulnerable. At our Celebrating Life Reunion, we meet again in the arena of renewed life." Colleen Reardon Chapleau, director of the Iowa Marrow Donor Program, added, "This event is a true celebration of the spirit. We share stories, triumphs and challenges. What stands out each year is the message of hope embodied in the courageous people who have fought cancer and who now give back to help others." People in need of a blood stem cell transplant are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease such as leukemia, lymphoma or aplastic anemia. A blood stem cell transplant involves using high doses of anticancer drugs or radiation to destroy the patient's diseased marrow and then giving the patient healthy blood stem cells as a replacement. In an autologous transplant, the patient's own blood stem cells are harvested, possibly treated, and then transplanted. In an allogenic transplant, another person donates the healthy marrow or blood stem cells. Each year, more than 30,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with diseases treatable by a blood stem cell transplant. However, of the patients needing to receive healthy blood stem cells from someone else, only 30 percent have a suitable family match, leaving the remaining 70 percent to rely on unrelated donors. |
