Page 14 - Layout 1

ORGAN ORGAN
DONATION DONATION

BAMC Nurse Receives Life-Saving was just shocking when I found out how difficult it was to find a donor. with general anesthesia where they went in through my wrist to remove

And then the story changed. Then it became greater than me. It was like,
part of my spleen. A week later, it happened again. This time they re-
Bone Marrow Transplant oh my gosh, here I am. I have a little bit of time to still find my donor, moved another section of my spleen. My husband was calling on our
when there are people that are sick that need a donor, too. And there's
prayer warriors; we are very devout.”
just such little education on how to be a donor. That's when it became Leticia said that to date no other matches have resulted from Karina’s
so important for us, me and my husband, to begin to share awareness drives but the names will be left in the registry until they are 61 years of
Interview with Karina Hernandez, coordinated by Robert A. Whetstone, Deputy, Communications Division,
Brooke Army Medical Center, and conducted by Monica Jones, BCMS COO, and Trisha Doucette, Editor on how simple it was to just swab and say ‘yes’ to becoming a donor. age. In June of 2023, 702 patients were matched nationally in one month
And so we began that journey,” Karina shared.
— a record for the organization. To register with NMDP, you must be
I n July of 2017, Karina and Jesse Hernandez were excited to grow their building a lot of collaterals to aid with circulation. I was on my third thony Mary Claret, followed by a drive at Fort Sam Houston through 18-40 years of age. If you are the best match for a patient, NMDP pays
Karina’s first bone marrow drive was at her family’s church, St. An-
oral chemo that would eventually stop working. I also now had a new
young family. However, Karina had recently miscarried a baby, and
for all travel costs to donate to a patient.
began experiencing severe upper left quadrant pains. Initial tests re-
Leticia added, “Seventy percent of all patients who have been diag-
row transplant.” Unfortunately, Karina had to leave her PACU BAMC
vealed an enlarged spleen and a diagnosis of myelofibrosis, a rare bone cancer mutation. And they said it's time, you need to have a bone mar- the Salute to Life program. There was another drive in El Paso through nosed with a blood cancer or blood disorder need to find a best match
Plant a Seed, coordinated by Leticia Mondragon, Account Manager for
marrow cancer that predominately effects patients 65 years and older. nurse position to prepare for her fight against cancer. NMDP for South and Central Texas, El Paso and Nebraska. “We also outside of their family. Only 30 percent of patients have a match in their
They also revealed she was pregnant again. The odds were not in her favor. According to the National Marrow organized a couple of other registry drives in San Antonio and shared family. Karina was very blessed to find her best match within her family.
“I was at the military hospital at the time, and they were really con- Donor Program (NMDP), formerly called Be The Match, a perfect her story at many of our registry drives,” said Leticia. Their efforts re- We encourage everyone to become a part of someone's cure for blood
cerned with the thought that I had myelofibrosis to begin with, but that match is difficult to find — the chances of a Caucasian patient finding sulted in approximately 3,000 volunteers swabbed in total. cancer. Many do not register until it hits home and someone in their
I was pregnant as well. Many tests were done. I had to get a bone marrow a match is 79 percent, Hispanics are a 48 percent chance and African In the end, it was Karina and Jesse’s 16-year-old son David (DJ) that family needs their help. When we go looking for a best match for a pa-
biopsy while I was pregnant, and other different tests. They said it was Americans are only a 29 percent chance. Even siblings have a one-in- provided her life-saving bone marrow as a half-donor with some of the tient, it all has to do with a person's genetic background. This is why it's
chronic; it was progressive. And we would watch and wait to see how four chance of matching. With approximately 41 million people world- genetic markers needed to fight Karina’s cancer. so important to diversify our registry to ensure that we have a match for
quickly it progresses,” explained Karina, who said a second opinion at wide registered as donors, the list is still not large enough to guarantee Karina said, “My son got tested at 16 years old. I needed to explain patients in need.”
MD Anderson in Houston confirmed her diagnosis. She received several perfect matches every time. NMDP states that matching unrelated to him the challenges in case this didn’t work. I told him there was only What’s also amazing is that Karina earned her LVN, RN, then BSN
blood transfusions and hospital stays during her high-risk pregnancy, donors and recipients is based on eight genetic markers of human leuko- a 50 percent chance this will work, and if it doesn’t work, I want you to and is now looking forward to completing the FNP program she had
but in the spring of 2018, Karina delivered a healthy baby boy named cyte antigens (or HLAs). This eight-of-eight match has long been the know how heroic you are to do this. He said, ‘I got this.’ As a mother, begun prior to receiving her transplant. She said, “Here I am on day 168
Josiah, who is now 6 years old now. standard, because it reduces the threat of graft-versus-host disease, which you give them life and here my son is giving me life.” post-transplant. I have a spirit that has never changed since day one. I
Following her pregnancy, Karina underwent three types of occurs when donor cells don't recognize the recipient's cells and attack Karina spent four months at MD Anderson undergoing multiple always told myself there is purpose beyond pain. I feel like I am here for
chemotherapy treatments within the six years of living with myelofibro- them. However, studies in non-perfect, unrelated donor and recipient rounds of aggressive chemo treatments prior to receiving her son’s stem a reason.”
sis, that were only stabilizing the progression. Karina said, “So, in the matches have provided alternatives. cells. “I almost died twice. Two days after my transplant, I woke up with
summer of 2022, I got really sick. I had gastric varices; my body was just Karina started with her siblings, who were not a match. “Honestly, it an intensive GI bleed, and had emergency interventive radiology surgery For more information, please visit www.NMDP.org.

26 SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • February 2024 Visit us at www.bcms.org 27