Patient’s Family Expresses Heartfelt Gratitude

Editor’s note: Recently a woman from out of state wrote to the Seattle Times to express her appreciation to local blood donors and to the healthcare institutions that provided blood components and medical care for her husband, who had undergone a bone marrow transplant in Seattle.

When the family later found out the source of the red cells, platelets and transfusion therapy expertise, the patient’s wife forwarded the letter to the Blood Center.

My husband is currently a stem cell transplant patient at the Fred Hutchinson Center of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He is still in-patient at the University of Washington Medical Center. We came from Michigan for this.

I am sure that many people in the Seattle area are aware of the "Hutch", and that patients come from all over the country - and world - to have their bone marrow and stem cell transplants done here. The donors, who are such a vital part of this, also come from all over the world.

What few people probably know, and even fewer can fully appreciate, is how dependent these patients are on the generosity and selflessness of Seattle area blood donors.

For several weeks following the transplant, before the new bone marrow or stem cells 'engraft', the patient is dependent on transfusions of red blood cells and platelets.

My husband is one of a subset of people who develop antibodies against "foreign" platelets, so that normal platelet transfusions are of minimal benefit to him - not sufficient to keep him from life-threatening bleeding problems during this period.

He needs to receive 'matched' platelets, which means that individual donors who match his blood antigens (much more sensitive a match than blood type) have to come in to donate specifically for him. The process, called apheresis, is also more complicated and time-consuming than a normal blood donation. It takes about two hours for the platelets to be extracted. He currently needs a platelet transfusion almost every day, and has for almost three weeks.

We will probably never know exactly who these individuals are who have donated for him, but we are eternally grateful to them. We are also grateful for the efforts of the local blood bank that locates and contacts these donors and facilitates the process. We are also grateful to the regular blood donors, who supply the red blood cells, which he and other transplant patients receive several times a week.

The Seattle area blood donors are a critical, but less recognized, part of the bone marrow and stem cell transplant success story.

Thank you.

Grateful from Michigan