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St. Louis woman spreads the
word
If it weren’t for Cheryl Nelson, a lot of people in St. Louis
would still be wondering what a bone marrow transplant is.
For the last two years, the young mother of two has made it her
mission to educate the public, especially the African American community, about
the desperate need for bone marrow donors and what people can do to help.
“I think everybody deserves to know what it means to
be a bone marrow donor,” Nelson explained. “It’s a critical
issue.”
Nelson, a 31-year-old African American woman, knows about this
issue firsthand. In February 1994, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a
rare blood disorder. After doctors told her that a bone marrow transplant would
give her the best chances for recovery, her four brothers and three sisters
were tested as possible donors. None of them matched, so Nelson began searching
for an unrelated donor.
Finding an unrelated bone marrow donor is difficult for anyone,
but it is particularly hard for African Americans. Patients are usually more
likely to find a suitable marrow donor among persons of similar ethnicity, but
only 139,661 persons registered with the Minneapolis-based National Marrow
Donor Program (NMDP) are African American. Of the 4,135 unrelated transplants
the NMDP has been able to facilitate, only 115 have involved black patients.
Although an increasing numbers of blacks are registering with the NMDP every
year, there is still a long way to go.
Nelson decided to play an active part in the search for a donor,
taking her message about the need for black donors to churches, schools and
hospitals all over greater St. Louis. She has participated in many bone marrow
donor drives sponsored by the Heart of America Bone Marrow Donor Registry, a
branch of the NMDP.
A skating rink where Nelson used to work hosted several bone
marrow drives for her, and the support of friends and former co-workers amazed
her. “It was a collaboration of angels to me. It seemed as though everyone
I knew showed up,” she recalled.
In addition to her efforts with the NMDP, Nelson, who is a disc
jockey at a St. Louis radio station, has been spreading the word on the
airwaves. “At the station we have a public service announcement for marrow
donors and I add a personal touch to it by sharing my own experiences,”
Nelson explained. “I tell listeners, ‘If you’re interested, then
call me. I’ll tell you what it takes to be a bone marrow donor.’
”
Right before Nelson was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, she had
been “overwhelmed with exhaustion,” which was very unusual for her,
she said. A single mother, Nelson worked two jobs in addition to caring for her
children. “It never occurred to me that I could be ill,” she
recalled. “I thought, ‘It will pass.’ But it did not pass.”
When red spots began appearing under her skin, she knew something was wrong.
Her doctor sent her to the emergency room at Christian Hospital
Northwest in St. Louis, where the staff ran tests for hours. Eventually Nelson
went to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, where she received most of her
treatment.
Although she was unable to undergo a bone marrow transplant, she
was in the hospital for four months. The doctors released her under the
condition that she stick to a regimen of pills and injections, and receive
blood transfusions every other day. Since then she has had several relapses and
more hospital stays. Although she is currently in remission, Nelson still
searches for a donor so that she can have a BMT. “I have unrelenting
faith,” she said.
The hardest part, Nelson said, was breaking the news to her
children, Brandon, 8 at the time, and Brittani, then 5. “I couldn’t
let anyone else tell them,” she said. “I told them the Lord would see
fit to give me the time to raise my own children.”
It took her children time to adjust to precautions they had to
take when they visited her in the hospital. “They didn’t understand
why I had to wear a surgical mask, or why they couldn’t use my
bathroom,” Nelson said. Although they have coped with her illness very
well so far, “they won’t leave me when I’m not feeling
good,” she said.
Nelson credits her mother with unwavering support. “My mother
worked 12-hour days and then she’d bring my children to the hospital to
see me. When some people would have walked away, she was there for me. She is a
godsend.” |
