metro >> on the cover
Connected
From The
Inside
Bone marrow donor and recipient
share an emotional meeting
in Oak Park.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman I Contributing Writer
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
During her phone call from the Boca Raton-based Gift of Life, the only
thing she was told about the recipient was her diagnosis, age and gender.
In California, Cyndi Schaechter, then 52, critically ill with leukemia, was
given the news that a young woman was found to be a perfect match as a
donor for her.
"When they told me they found Bayla, I was so relieved; Cyndi said.
"When I was diagnosed in April 2011, I was very ill and needed a stem cell
transplant right away. One of my sisters was an exact match, but could not be
a donor because she had breast cancer within the past five years. There was
also a man in Europe who was a match, but Bayla was in the U.S., and time
was really critical. Matches are graded, with 10 being the best. Bayla is a 107
Assuring The Match
To be sure Bayla fit the health guidelines for becoming a donor, she says she
"had to go for lots of blood tests:' According to giftoflife.org, a blood sample
is taken to confirm the match, after which the potential donor receives a
complete physical exam, has a health history taken and then more blood
work
"They were checking for any diseases I may be carrying — HIV, AIDS,
STDs — and they did a chest X-ray," Bayla said. "They had to make sure
that the stem cells they were putting into the recipient didn't carry anything
that would make her sicker. And I went every two weeks to get blood tests to
make sure I wasn't pregnant7
Eighty percent of eligible donors donate blood stem cells and 20 percent
donate bone marrow, with the treatment option determined by the patient's
physician. A bone marrow donation involves a surgical procedure done
under general or regional anesthesia, during which needles are used to with-
draw liquid marrow from the back of the pelvic bone.
Bayla was a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donor, undergoing a non-
surgical procedure performed at Karmanos Cancer Institute-Wertz Clinical
Cancer Center at Detroit Medical Center in Detroit.
PBSC donors receive five injections of filgrastim during the days leading
up to the procedure to increase the number of blood-forming cells in the
bloodstream.
"The problem is that the body doesn't reproduce stem cells so we have to
make our bodies do so with the injections; Bayla said. "The shots made my
bones go into overdrive to make these stem cells:'
The procedure took place in August 2011.
"I was hooked up to a machine, kind of like a dialysis machine, for about
five hours; she said. Through a process called aphaeresis, her blood was
removed through a needle in one arm and passed through the machine that
separated out the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood was returned to
her through the other arm. Her parents, Bracha and Michael Hochheiser, and
a friend took turns being with her during the process.
8
December 13 • 2012
Bayla during the procedure, covered by a blanket signed by Gift of Life staff.
Judaism And Donation
Virtually all streams of Judaism consider the
donation of an organ that the donor can live
without, or a body part that can be replenished
— like bone marrow or blood — as one of the
greatest acts possible if it is donated to save or
vastly improve another life, and if it is given by
a living donor.
"It is truly remarkable how advances in medi-
cal science provide us with new mitzvot," said
Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg of the Sara and
Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center in
West Bloomfield. "Up until this point, one ful-
filled the mitzvah of tzedakah by sharing one's
possessions with someone in need. Today, we
can fulfill the mitzvah of tzedakah by sharing
parts of one's body with someone in need"
However, becoming an organ donor following
death presents specific concerns, and Silberberg
suggests consultation with a knowledgeable
authority. Some state that, although saving a life
could override the Torah's commandment that
we should be buried whole, body parts should
only be removed if there is the assurance that
they will directly save a life and not be used for
research, stored away or discarded.
There is also the issue of removing an organ
from a person whose heart is still beating.
Although medically and legally a person may be
declared dead if there is brain death, traditional
Jewish law maintains that if the heart is beat-
ing, the person is alive and removal of certain
organs would cause death.
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