It’s “Saving Private Ryan,” Eureka-style, and no one has to go to war to save the sole remaining son of a Eureka woman’s sister.

Jan Pierre’s sister lost two sons in six years — one to murder in 2001, the other to a massive coronary at age 47. The remaining son and Pierre’s nephew, 43-year-old Vaughn Thomas, suffers from multiple myeloma, which is cancer of the blood plasma.

“It’s not curable, but it is treatable,” Pierre said in a phone interview. “We are desperately trying to get him a bone marrow match.”

For the past 10 years, Project Share Life has been the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka’s effort to help the Vaughn Thomases of the world. It conducts an annual drive to enroll individuals in the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. According to the NMDP, more than 6,000 men, women and children suffer from leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases and can be treated by a bone marrow or cord blood transplant.

“What in the world could be better than saving a life?” Nyle Henderson asked earlier this month after watching 125 Humboldt State University students line up to have their mouths swabbed and join the registry of 10 million.

The students were part of the Rotary Club’s December drive to expand the registry. Henderson said Rotary pays the tissue typing costs of approximately $65 for every person who signs on.

Project Share Life spread to Rotary clubs throughout Northern and Central California. All told, Henderson’s Rotary brainchild added 20,000 people to a registry that has grown by 1,000 percent since Henderson’s son, Steven, lost his bout with multiple myeloma in the early 1990s.

Back then, Henderson said, there was 1-in-5 chance they’d find a match for Steven.

“We wondered what in the world could be done to make it better,” Henderson recalled. “Imagine how devastating it is to family members with a loved one facing a terminal situation and not being able to find a match. We got a shot at it, but it made me aware how urgent it is.”

Now, Henderson said, those odds are 4 out of 5.

“That means you line five people up and one of those isn’t going to get a shot at life. That’s still unacceptable,” Henderson said. “There are things in life we have to do and things we ought to do. This is something everyone between 18 and 60 ought to do. It’s a mouth swab that takes 15 minutes one time in your life.”

“The testing can be pretty painless,” said Lisa Powers, donor care specialist for the Northern California Community Blood Bank, which offers the swab and registers donors year-round.

Powers said the blood bank gets two or three donors a month, a few more on occasional months.

“I try to warn people ahead of time to take a moment to decide if this is something you really want to do,” she said. “If you were to become a match, it could be painful.”

Even so, Powers said, the threat of pain (see sidebar) doesn’t scare off many.

“A lot of people want to be able to help someone and most figure what’s a little bit of pain compared to saving someone?”

The worst thing, Powers said, is to sign on for the easy part and then back out. It’s tough on the family and delays life-saving treatment.

Powers has been on the registry for 10 years and never matched.

“But I recently tested someone who had a possible match for the third time,” she said.

Those who come up as a match return to Powers for additional testing and blood work, which is then sent to the national repository in Minnesota and to the physician of the patient.

“Vaughn has a very difficult match,” Pierre said. “He’s a very rare person, quite rare in this case. He’s had to go on a medication that basically keeps the wolf away from the door. It will keep him from getting worse and buy him some time to find a really, really suitable donor.”

“A lot of people feel it won’t affect them, that it will never impact them,” Henderson said. “But there are a lot of Jans, Nyles, Vaughns and Stevens out there. I’ve been there two, three times when the donors meet their matches. That will make a believer out of you. If you don’t puddle up, there’s something wrong with you.”

A Christmas match for Vaughn is No. 1 on the Pierre Christmas list this year.

“You have no idea,” Pierre said.

Those wishing to add their names to the bone marrow registry can do so at any Bloodmobile or at the blood bank at 2524 Harrison Ave. in Eureka.

“There’s someone out there that is the person they need,” Henderson said. “We just haven’t done a good enough job of putting together a registry where there’s a 98 or 99 percent chance of getting a match.”



Myths and Facts About Bone Marrow Donation

Learn the facts about bone marrow donation to make an informed decision about joining the National Marrow Donor Program Registry.

MYTH: Bone marrow donation is painful.

FACT: Bone marrow donation procedures are done under general or regional anesthesia so the donor experiences no pain during the collection procedure.

MYTH: Pieces of bone are removed from the donor.

FACT: Bone marrow donation involves transplant of the liquid marrow found inside of the bone. No pieces of bone are removed from the donor. During a surgical procedure in an operating room, special, hollow needles are used to withdraw liquid marrow from the donor’s pelvic bones.

MYTH: No anesthesia is used for bone marrow donation.

FACT: Bone marrow donation procedures are always done when the donor is under general or regional anesthesia.

MYTH: All bone marrow donations involve surgery.

FACT: Some donations involve surgery and some do not. Donors may be asked to donate marrow, which is a surgical procedure, or peripheral blood stem cells. PBSC donation is a non-surgical procedure done in a blood center or outpatient clinic. PBSC donation involves removing a donor’s blood through a sterile needle in one arm. The blood is passed through a machine that separates out the cells used in transplantation. The remaining blood is returned through the other arm.

The patient’s doctor will decide what type of donation is best for the patient.

MYTH: Bone marrow donation involves a lengthy recovery process.

FACT: Marrow donors can expect to feel some soreness in their lower back for a few days or longer. Donors also have reported feeling tired and having some discomfort walking. Most donors are back to their usual routine in a few days. Some may take a few weeks before they feel completely recovered. PBSC donors report varying symptoms including headache, bone or muscle pain, nausea, insomnia and fatigue. These effects disappear shortly after donating.

MYTH: Bone marrow donation weakens the donor.

FACT: A donor’s marrow is completely replaced within four to six weeks. After donating, most donors are back to their usual routine in a few days.

Source: National Marrow Donor Program Web site, http://www.marrow.org/