“Thanks Mom!” marrow donor drive seeks to help Auburn mother, others

Sacramento will be among more than 80 cities around the country to host a “Thanks Mom!” Marrow Donor Drive over the Mother’s Day weekend to help recruit donors for the thousands of patients whose lives depend on a marrow or cord-blood transplant. The Sacramento event, hosted by the National Marrow Donor Program with support from UC Davis Cancer Center, will be held on Saturday, May 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the BloodSource, 1625 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento.

Cheri Barnett, 43, will be there to tell her story and to personally thank people who show up to join the National Marrow Donor Program registry. The Auburn woman was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 2001, when she was pregnant with her only child, Benjamin, now 4. Six months after Benjamin was born, Barnett received a stem-cell transplant from her brother. That treatment was unsuccessful, however, and Barnett has been waiting for a suitable donor match from a non-relative ever since.

“I want to be a mom to my son. I want to be there for him as he grows up,” Barnett said.

More than 6 million people have registered with the National Marrow Donor Program, the largest source for all types of blood and marrow cells available for unrelated transplants. But even with a registry of millions, some patients are unable to find a suitable match.

Anyone ages 18 to 60, in good health and willing to donate to any patient in need can join the registry. Joining involves filling out a short health questionnaire and signing an informed consent form. A few cells are then collected by swiping the inside of the potential donor’s cheek with a cotton swab. The cells are used in tissue typing, information that is then added to the registry and made available to National Marrow Donor Program Transplant Centers nationwide. Joining the registry at Saturday’s event is free.

“You could be the donor a patient needs. You'll never know unless you join the registry,” said Ted Wun, a professor of hematology and oncology at UC Davis Cancer Center, a registered bone marrow donor and Barnett’s doctor. “This Mother’s Day weekend is a good time to step forward – after all, it’s because your mother gave you life that you are able to offer the gift of life to someone else. There is no better way to honor your mother!”

Representatives of racial and ethnic minority groups are especially needed for the registry. Barnett, for example, is one-sixteenth Cherokee. Her odds of finding a match improve as more people of American Indian descent join the registry. The registry also has a particular need for African Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders and Hispanics.

For more information about the Thanks Mom! campaign, visit www.marrow.org/thanksmom/. For information about the health guidelines for donors, visit www.marrow.org/HELP/med_guidelines_join.html.