Bone marrow drive set for December UTA Published Nov. 1, 2014 By Tech. Sgt. Douglas Hays 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Tech. Sgt. Eileen Zlaty saved a life in 2014 by doing something she had forgotten about in 2008, and in December, Grissom Airmen will have an opportunity to do the same. Zlaty, 434th Aerospace Medicine Squadron health services management journeyman, is spearheading a bone marrow drive to help those at Grissom join the National Marrow Donor Registry. The drive will be held at the 434th AMDS from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. Dec. 6 and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in Dock 1 Dec. 7 here following commander's call. The drive is something Zlaty said she is passionate about because of her own experience. While training at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, a then Senior Airman Eileen Smith, now Zlaty, volunteered for a simple cheek swab for entry into the Registry through the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program.. "I was on a break, it took a few seconds and honestly I had forgotten about it," she recalled. Fast forward to December 2013. "I got a phone call saying I was a match, and I honestly didn't even remember registering," she said. "You can be on the registry your entire life and not become a match - it's a pure miracle to be a match because it's DNA based." Zlaty said she was directed to go to a local blood bank for further testing, and the results would be available in three to 16 weeks. "Sixteen weeks later they called and told me I was a 100 percent match to a 19-year-old Turkish boy with terminal leukemia," she said. The news may have been great, but the timing wasn't. "I was supposed to leave for the Noncommissioned Officer Academy in five days, and they wanted me to fly to Washington, D.C., for a physical exam," she explained. Zlaty spoke with Lt. Col. Therese Kern, 434th AMDS commander, and was on her way to Washington two days later. "As she explained the situation to me and her options, I gave her my 100-percent support to donate," Kern said. "She is an amazing individual who was able to give her bone marrow to save a life. That is something that doesn't happen every day." "To me it was a no brainer," Zlaty said, "I had a chance to give life to someone, so off to D.C. I went." While in D.C., the hopeful volunteer underwent an extensive physical exam. "They basically said I was an ideal donor," said Zlaty. "And, a week later, I was back for the procedure." The transplant process, long perceived to be a painful one, has evolved. "Gone are the days they take the marrow from your hip in a painful procedure," she said. "Now, they give you injections of a drug designed to increase the number of stem cells in your blood system." Injections are given in the back of each arm one time a day. "On the fifth day, they put a line in a vein to draw blood, run it through a special machine, harvest the stem cells and then put the blood right back into you," said Zlaty. "The process itself isn't too painful -- the worst part is there is some muscle and bone pain from the injections leading up to the harvesting, and I got headaches," she continued. "You're just extremely fatigued because your body is producing such an extreme amount of stem cells. I basically slept for five days because I was completely drained." While the discomfort levels are minimal, the payoff is great, she said. "It was like a scene from a movie," Zlaty recalled. "When I was done, this lady from Turkey comes in with a cooler, packages my stem cells, runs to a plane to fly back to Turkey - it was really exciting." Her donation was an international donation, so contact cannot be made with the recipient for a year. If she would like to talk to them and they would like to talk to her after that time, the DOD donor program will assist in making the connection. "They told me no news is good news and that results were very positive," Zlaty said. "They said I had one of the highest counts of stem-cells that they had ever seen." "It was so worth the effort," she added. "I feel if we're not doing something in our lives to improve the lives of others - then we really have no purpose." Zlaty also explained the experience ignited a passion for this medical issue and she wants to share that with others. "When she came back, she was so proud, just beaming with excitement that she was able to help someone," Kern said. "This memorable experience has certainly motivated her to continue to reach out and help the others understand the bone marrow donation process." And reaching out is exactly what Zlaty did after her experience. "I asked the doctors in D.C. how we could get this to Grissom," she elaborated. "How do we get people to be aware of the donor list so they may make a difference in someone's life?" The answer came when she contacted a research coordinator. "The research coordinator said 'tell me a date, time, location, I'll do the flyers and kits and get them to you - all you need is medical personnel to take the swabs,'" she relayed. "Well, I work in a clinic, so that part was easy." That's how the December drive was born. "In the military it's our duty to give back - and what's greater than giving life," she asked. "I want to get 1,000 people signed up. I want Grissom to make a difference." Grissom is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as three Army Reserve units and a Marine Corps Reserve communication detachment. Stay connected with Grissom and the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
