Thursday, August 21, 2014

Bone Marrow Donation

Wow! Nurse does a very selfless act.

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A True Match for Life, December 17th, 2013
by admin, BMDP (Bone Marrow Donor Programme)

Just a few weeks ago, mother of two Stacey Lim met a young nurse – by any counts a very special person committed to helping and caring for others – but more than that, Stacey met the person who saved her life.

Diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) in October 2009, Stacey’s illness threw her into a whirlwind of fear and depression worrying about the future and what it might hold for her and her family.

When several rounds of chemotherapy failed cure her condition, she was told that her only chance of survival was a bone marrow transplant, where she faced an overwhelming one-in-20,000 chance of finding a match. Then when an initial match was found, the donor was discounted on health grounds, so life was even more bleak and death seemed inevitable.

But while all this was going on in Stacey’s world, Stella Chua, a 20 year old student nurse stepped forward and registered as a bone marrow donor . “Why wouldn't I?” said Stella, “my registering as a donor could only increase the chance of someone finding a match and possibly I could save a life.”

Just months after joining the BMDP register, Stella was called up as a perfect match for Stacey and without hesitation, she went through the short procedure to donate her bone marrow to someone who was still a total stranger. Sharing her experience of the donation process, which was an outpatient procedure very similar to a blood donation, she said, “I felt so comfortable that I actually dozed off quite a few times.”

A few weeks ago, Stacey got the chance to thank Stella in person at a patient reunion night hosted by the hospital where she was treated. “It was totally unexpected as I expected a reunion between the patients and their doctors and nurses only so when I asked the Coordinator ”will my donor be here tonight and she said yes, I was so excited.”

Stella was similarly none the wiser. “They asked for volunteers so I went along with a few colleagues and then the Coordinator told me “Your bone marrow recipient is coming tonight for the party. Do you want to meet up?”

Stacey was so overwhelmed during that first meeting she wasn’t able to speak but she had written a thank you note to tell this perfect stranger how she felt. “Words cannot begin to express what my family and I all feel about your selfless act”, she explained, “maybe to you it was just a small thing to do, but I am still alive and all because of you”.

For Stella, her simple act of volunteerism has turned out to be incredibly meaningful as well. “I’m very happy that she’s doing really well right now, that my stem cells actually made her strong enough to move on in life. I’m very happy I helped.”

After their initial meeting, Stacey and Stella share a bond that nothing can rival and their experience has moved them to inspire hope in others. Stella ,who is currently pursuing an Advanced Diploma certification on Nursing, specialising in Oncology, wants to further understand what cancer patients go through and how to better care for them. Stacey is volunteering her time for the BMDP to help educate the public about the need for more bone marrow donors.

“Actually anyone can be a donor,” reasons Stella. “and if you are healthy, there’s no reason not to join the Bone Marrow Donor Programme and increase the chance of survival for our patients”.

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News Article from Straits Times, Singapore


{Ms Chua adds: "I didn't know much about giving bone marrow, but I agreed that it could help someone. "So I filled up a form, and in less than five minutes, a staff member pricked my finger to take a blood sample. After that, I carried on with my life." Half a year later, she was told that her bone marrow was a match to a cancer patient's. Over the next month, she went for check-ups, X-rays and blood tests to ensure that she was fit to donate bone marrow. Before it was harvested, she had to have injections which made her body ache, but which she described as being "not really painful". The harvesting was a three-day outpatient procedure. Ms Chua spent about seven hours a day hooked up to a machine in a hospital. She was put under local anaesthesia. She says: "I wasn't bothered by any of this. I am not afraid of needles and I even fell asleep during the harvesting."}

In 2010, Ms Stella Chua went through about a month of check-ups and other medical procedures to donate bone marrow to a complete stranger.

The year before, the 24-year-old nursing student had registered to be a donor at a blood drive, which had a booth set up by the Bone Marrow Donor Programme, a non-profit organisation which runs a register of donors.

Ms Chua was there with her mother, Madam Ong Soh Kim, a 53-year-old housewife, to donate blood. Her mother wanted to register but was turned down because of her age. She encouraged her daughter to sign up instead.

Madam Ong says in Mandarin: "Many years ago, I read in the newspapers about a girl who was saved by such a donation. It is a kind act that can save a life."

Ms Chua adds: "I didn't know much about giving bone marrow, but I agreed that it could help someone.

"So I filled up a form, and in less than five minutes, a staff member pricked my finger to take a blood sample. After that, I carried on with my life."

Half a year later, she was told that her bone marrow was a match to a cancer patient's. Over the next month, she went for check-ups, X-rays and blood tests to ensure that she was fit to donate bone marrow.

Before it was harvested, she had to have injections which made her body ache, but which she described as being "not really painful".

The harvesting was a three-day outpatient procedure. Ms Chua spent about seven hours a day hooked up to a machine in a hospital. She was put under local anaesthesia.

She says: "I wasn't bothered by any of this. I am not afraid of needles and I even fell asleep during the harvesting."

Last August, she met the patient she saved, Madam Stacey Lim, a 40-year-old housewife, for the first time at a get-together event for cancer survivors and hospital staff. It was held at a multi-purpose hall in the Singapore General Hospital.

Their meeting was a coincidence. Ms Chua was a volunteer at the event and Madam Lim was there as a guest.

At the event, Madam Lim was told by a hospital staff that there was a chance she could meet her donor.

While waiting for the staff to seek Ms Chua's consent, Madam Lim rushed to a nearby bakery and bought a box of mini mooncakes. She darted into a convenience store to buy a card and scribbled a thank-you note.

The pair eventually had a tearful meeting on stage. They hugged and were overwhelmed by tears.

Madam Lim says: "I was already crying before we met. I wanted her to know how grateful I was. It was either get a bone marrow transplant or die."

Ms Chua says: "I had received an update that the recipient of my stem cells was stable but I did not know how she was doing. I was very happy to see that she was strong and able to function normally."

In October 2009, Madam Lim was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a type of cancer that affects the bone marrow. She had been given three to six months to live. The odds of a match were one to 20,000.

The mother of two was prepared for the worst. Her son and daughter are now 12 and 14 years old. She is married to Mr Eric Low, 40, who is self-employed.

After that first tearful meeting, Ms Chua and Madam Lim met again at a charity event organised by the Bone Marrow Donor Programme. They spent about two hours chatting. Now, they keep in touch through text messages.

Madam Lim returned to her daily routines about a year ago but still goes for check-ups at the hospital several times a year. She plans to take Ms Chua and her family out for dinner soon.

She says: "I was not hopeful when the doctors told me the odds and I was mentally prepared that I would not survive. Stella has given me a new lease of life."

Donor Stella Chua (right) had an emotional meeting with cancer patient Stacey Lim. 
-- ST PHOTO: CHERYL FAITH WEE

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Oh no... this is scary... BUT... we are not to be put off by this.
{...prepared for the worst", because a previous potential donor ended up having hepatitis ...}
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I'm still alive because of her: Singapore bone marrow recipient

Stacey Lim was just 36 years old when she was told she had months to live.

She was your typical "anxious working mother in the rat race", working full days as an area sales manager and casting her eye on "an endless list of wants to achieve".

"Most of the time, I would think about work, how to manage my time between work, kids and myself," she said in a recent email interview, adding that apart from the occasional stressful situation, she was mostly happy.

It was on an average day in October 2009 while Lim was at work that she found herself feeling unnaturally breathless.

"It was not normal. I felt very, very, very tired, but I thought it was due to work," she said, adding that she then checked herself into hospital for a blood test, where she was admitted for severely low blood count.

Just a day later, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), a cancer of the white blood cells multiplying excessively in the her bone marrow. Known to be associated with exposure to radiation and chemicals in animals and humans, ALL crowds out normal cells in the bone marrow, spreading to other organs and causing death in a matter of weeks if untreated.

Lim's only lifeline: a bone marrow transplant, and doctors told her she had a 1 in 20,000 chance of finding a match, much less, possibly, a willing donor in Singapore — not the kind of news a married woman with two children not yet into their teenage years would find easy to stomach.

She was immediately warded at hospital after the diagnosis. "I was cut off from most people as I had to be isolated, due to my (weak) immune system," she said, adding that she only saw her husband once a day, and her children twice a week. "As much as I would have liked to be there for them, I couldn't."

Enter 24-year-old Stella Chua, a staff nurse, who signed herself up for Singapore's Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) in May that year, while still studying at the National University of Singapore.
 
"My mum is a regular blood donor and I followed in her 'footsteps'," she said, adding that she followed her mother to a donation drive at a community centre near their home, and came to know of the BMDP.
 
Six months later, she received a call, and was told that she was potentially a suitable donor for a patient in need of her stem cells.
 
"I was really surprised by the news, and was really elated," she shared. She did not know who she would be donating her stem cells to, but it did not matter. "All I knew was there was someone who needed my stem cells to re-live a new life," she added.
 
When Lim first heard word that a match had been found, she said she was delighted, but at the same time "hoping for the best, (and) prepared for the worst", because a previous potential donor ended up having hepatitis.

All went smoothly, though, and Chua's stem cells were successfully harvested for Lim, and her leukemia went into remission.

For the past nearly four years, Chua said she knew nothing of her beneficiary, apart from a gift of appreciation that she received from Lim, and the occasional update from the BMDP coordinator on her condition. It was only "a few months ago" that she was told about Lim, she said, and the two met for the first time at a reunion party for cancer survivors.

"Words cannot express (my gratefulness) for her selfless act," said Lim. "Maybe to her it's just a donation, but to me — not only me, but my family — we feel so indebted, because it's a new lease of life (for me). I'm still alive because of her."

Speaking of her donation, Chua said her experience helped greatly in her line of work, in particular the two years she spent stationed in a hematology ward, after previously being placed in oncology.

"My experience as a bone marrow donor allows me to empathise with this group of patients; the 'bone ache' they experienced when receiving the stimulating hormone factor injection like what I had before the harvesting," she said. "I understand the procedure of donating stem cells and can share this experience with patients' siblings, who experience anxiety before harvesting, pre-empting and reassuring them."

Her interest in looking after cancer patients spurred her to pursue an advanced diploma in nursing with a specialisation in oncology full-time, with the support of her employer.

"Nursing cancer patients is challenging and yet very satisfying," she said. "I learnt a lot from them and their family about life and about dying."

Stacey's and Stella's story was brought to you in partnership with the Singaporean of the Dayproject, and in cooperation with the Bone Marrow Donor Programme. To find out more about becoming a bone marrow donor, click here (http://bmdp.org/how-you-can-help/). To see more Singaporean of the Day stories, click here.
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