Battling blood

CASEY RESSLER

Frontiersman Valley Life editor

Each year, hundreds of Alaskans are diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood-related cancers. Donations from the community often help those patients while they receive treatment in Seattle.

According to Kelly Marre, who lost her son, Logan, to leukemia, about 30 percent of the children at the Ronald McDonald House in Seattle are Alaskans. Pinpointing an exact number of cases in Alaska is hard, however.

"Typically, I get calls from people I don't even know," Marre said. "They may have a family member who was diagnosed, and they are looking for resources and information. There is a huge amount of cancer patients. It blows me away how much cancer affects us."

Recently, several Valley cases have been reported in the media - Kara MacIver is a teenager who recently underwent a bone marrow transplant in Seattle, and Sandy Montgomery, another Valley resident, was diagnosed with Burkitts-Like Large B Cell Nonhodgkins Lymphoma and sent to Seattle for a marrow transplant.

For every MacIver and Montgomery, however, other cases largely go unpublicized.

An estimated 106,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease. More than 712,000 American have leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, according to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and every 10 minutes one of them dies from complications.

"They have made great strides in trying to find a cure," Marre said. "Every day something new is discovered."

Often, blood-cancer patients require a bone-marrow transplant. Getting people on the registry is important, and all it requires of potential donors is a simple blood test.

The National Marrow Donor Program is a network of more than 500 leading medical facilities around the world. Through that network, more than 200 marrow or blood-cell transplants are performed each month. There are 5.5 million people who are on the list to donate marrow or stem cells, but more people are needed. With increased medical technology, donating isn't as painful as it once was.

Former Wasilla resident Caitlin Huckins donated stem cells earlier this year. She was a friend of Logan Marre and signed up for the registry at last year's Light the Night Walk, as a way to honor her friend. Just three months later, however, she was identified as a marrow match. Earlier this summer, she flew to Seattle and donated stem cells.

"I was hoping to get called because it can save someone's life, but I never thought it would happen that fast," Huckins said. "I was way excited when I got that call."

Huckins had to undergo five days of injections to stimulate the stem cells, and then on the final day of injections, a machine was hooked up to a machine that removes white cells before returning her blood back to her body. The whole process took three days, and was not nearly as painful as the old procedure of taking marrow from a person's hip.

"The chances of finding a match are pretty slim," Marre said. "It's amazing Caitlin had a match after six months."

A Palmer student has been working for years to help get people signed up for the registry. Brittany Heck has worked throughout her high school career to get Alaska Natives to sign up, because of a shortage of donors from that ethnic background.

Heck has received numerous awards for her efforts, including a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet Colin Powell.

In Huckins' case, the Light the Night Walk succeeded in raising awareness.

"Before the Light the Night walk last September, I didn't even know what the registry was. It's important to get the word out, and to get people registered."