Blood donation isn’t just for car accident victims and organ transplants. It’s for people who have cancer.
Melanie Mathieson, 36, of Fort Frances knows all about it—and she wants to increase public awareness about the value of being a blood donor.
She was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in February and since spending time at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg for treatment, Mathieson has come face-to-face with the importance blood plays in the fight against cancer.
“I don’t think we correlate cancer with blood transfusions. I know I didn’t,” she admitted.
“I know [two patients] at the HSC who have cancer and who have been having platelet transplants three times a week since February,” Mathieson noted by phone from her home last week.
“If someone needed five units of blood platelets, that requires five different donors [of that blood component],” she added.
Each unit of blood can be separated into several components so that each component can be given to someone with a need for that specific one.
While Mathieson’s cancer is in remission, she is opting for a stem cell support procedure to stave off the 60 percent chance she still has of the cancer returning within two years.
She recently had stem cells taken from her blood. The procedure was done through a femoral line in her groin and thus also required her to have a platelet transfusion.
Platelets, one of the components required to make blood clots, originate from giant cells called megakaryocytes, which are found in bone marrow. Stem cells are found within most organs and can develop into every type of tissue within that organ.
In the case of the blood system, all of the immune cells, platelet-producing cells, red blood cells, and other infection-fighting white cells are generated from blood stem cells.
Before Mathieson undergoes stem cell support, she will receive three-five doses of high-grade chemotherapy to eliminate any microscopic cancer cells that may be lingering in her blood or bone marrow.
“That kind of chemotherapy is one which would kill you if it was without putting the stem cells back in,” said Mathieson.
Such high-dose chemotherapy leaves cancer patients highly vulnerable to infections. Doctors re-introduce stem cells into the blood, which then generates new infection-fighting blood cells.
The re-generation period can last several weeks.
After an initial hospital stay, Mathieson will be released, but must stay in Winnipeg for 100 days and away from circumstances that could compromise her “blood” health (i.e., small children, new pets, the common cold, etc.)
“Sometimes I think, ‘Oh, [gosh] what am I doing.’ But it’s pretty straight forward and technology is so unbelievable in cancer treatment now,” she remarked.
“I’m more worried about what I’m going to do for the 100 days. It’s not like I can whip out to the zoo or go bike riding,” she chuckled.
Mathieson said the stem cell procedure is better than the alternative of having to go through chemotherapy all over again if the cancer came back.
“Hopefully, I’ll get better and be back on the road to where I was before all this happened,” she added.
“But this isn’t about me, this is about donating blood. I can’t donate any more—I was one away from my 15th donation,” she noted.
“This is my mission now, to get more people to donate blood,” she stressed. “So when people hear about friends having cancer and they feel kind of helpless, they can give blood.”
In related news, Canadian Blood Services will hold its fall blood donor clinic Sept. 22 from 4:30 -8:30 p.m. and again Sept. 23 from noon-3 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m. at Fort Frances High School.
Call 1-888-236-6283 to book an appointment.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
