Aplastic anemia sufferer in a race to find a match
Tom Griffith has severe aplastic anemia and knows the odds of finding a stem cell donor to save his life are slim.
None of the 10 million donors listed on the National Bone Marrow Registry are a match for Griffith, 65, of North Strabane Township.
But Griffith’s friends from the Three Rivers Greyhounds/Greyhounds Pets of America haven’t given up hope that a match is out there, so they are hosting “Tom Griffith’s ‘Greyt’ Bone Marrow Screening and Replenishment Blood Drive” from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Central Blood Bank Community Donor Center in Moon Township.
“The reality is that the chances of me getting something from this are extremely against me. But hopefully somebody else will benefit and find a donor. You never know,” said Griffith, two days before he was taken to Shadyside Hospital on Monday after suffering a brain hemorrhage, which is often fatal for aplastic anemia patients. Doctors spent more than two hours trying to stop the bleeding until a nasal balloon managed to control the blood flow.
Aplastic anemia is a rare blood disorder – it affects only 3 out of every 1 million people – where the bone marrow does not produce new blood cells (red, white or platelets), which makes the body susceptible to bleeding and infection. Griffith battles constant fatigue and recurring infections, and has difficulty controlling bleeding from even minor wounds. A Penn State University alumni, Griffith worked in the electronics security field but was forced to quit because of his illness.
To stay alive, Griffith receives two to three blood transfusions each week.
He was diagnosed with the disease two years ago following a routine physical before he started a new job – and two weeks after he and his wife, Joyce, were married. Initially, doctors thought Griffith was suffering from myelodysplastic anemia, the same condition that television newscaster Robin Roberts has, but later on discovered it was, in fact, aplastic anemia.
Griffith compares his condition to a leaky car tire.
“I’m similar to a tire on a car leaking air. When the air is gone, I’m done. The question is, and nobody can really answer this, how long can I go until the air is completely out of the tire?”
Griffith lives with his wife and their two retired racing greyhounds, Honey and Flash, and they are active in the Greyhound Pets of America/Three Rivers Greyhounds group.
“They’re very loveable and as happy as can be. The dogs are couch potatoes, I love having them around,” said Griffith, an advocate for greyhound adoption. “Roughly 25,000 greyhounds retire every year from the track; 18,000 are rescued, the other 7,000 are euthanized. They’re perfectly good, loving dogs. They need love and affection.”
But right now, Griffith is in need of rescue, and quickly.
Before he became ill, Griffith was a regular blood donor. The blood drive will replenish the community blood supply, while the bone marrow screening will provide the opportunity for people to join Be the Match, the national registry for bone marrow donors.
Joining the registry requires nothing more than a cheek swab and filling out paperwork. The registry tissue types the sample to match to patients. About 1 in 540 members of the Be the Match Registry in the United States go on to donate bone marrow. New patient searches are conducted every day.
Debbie Utterback, a member of the greyhounds club who helped organize the event, said the club has rallied behind Griffith and the drive is their way of helping.
“Who knows? Someone could be the match. Tom and Joyce are just wonderful people. It would be great if a miracle happened,” said Utterback.
She joked that no bloodhounds will be at the drive, but some greyhounds will attend so that people can visit with the dogs while they donate.
The limits of what the human body can endure are astonishing; equally powerful is the will to survive. The blood and donor drive has given Griffith hope that, no matter how great the odds, he will find the match he’s waiting for.
“I’m asking people to pray that a donor comes through,” he said.
To make an appointment to attend, visit www.centralbloodbank.org and search with sponsor code ZRTN1019, or call Debbie Utterback at 412-780-4891 or utterback_d@yahoo.com. The Central Blood Bank Community Donor Center is located at Edgetown Square, 1005 Beaver Grade Road, Moon Township, Pa., 15108.