Paths of Progress, Winter/Spring 2000
There's always enough, thanks to the true heroes
At one point in her treatment, transplant patient Nancy Orazem wondered if her bone marrow would ever again make its own platelets, the critical cells that enable blood to clot and prevent lifethreatening internal bleeding. At the time she was receiving regular infusions of platelets. "What if they run out?" she asked.
Thanks to the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Blood Donor Center at Brigham and Woman's Hospital, the transplant program has the platelets it needs — enough for 16,322 infusions last year alone.
Nancy Orazem
The true heroes of these centers are the people who make time to have platelets removed from their blood. Some are friends and family members of patients, but most are complete strangers who simply want to give of themselves.
Orazem is a patient of Ken Anderson, M.D., medical director of the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center and a pioneer in the use of transplants to treat multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. As Anderson guided Orazem through treatment, the language teacher from Martha's Vineyard, Mass., began to realize the importance of unknown supporters. She shared her experience at a recent meeting of the Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which honored "Team 20" members — those who had donated platelets at least 20 times during the previous year.
"I am at a loss to express in any language what everyone in this room has done for me," she said. "Without ever knowing me, you were willing to do what you could to help me beat myeloma. Please know that I have relished every precious day you have given me."
To find out more about becoming a platelet, marrow, or stem cell donor, call the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center at (617) 632-3660.
