The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Seeking a Match: Sixteen-year-old Bahjat Alaadel recently underwent a risky bone-marrow transplant using his own previously healthy bone marrow, but his family is still desperately searching for a donor.

Family of student keeps up marrow-donor search

16-year-old is recovering from risky transplant of own marrow

By Michelle Alaimo

Bahjat Alaadel, 16, is fighting for his life, and he needs the community's help. The Los Gatos High School student, who has acute myeloid leukemia (AML), is currently in Stanford's Children's Hospital recovering from a risky procedure performed Dec. 31 in which his own bone marrow, extracted while he was in remission last year, was infused back into him.

But Bahjat's father, Ahmad, said a bone-marrow donor is still needed because of the great risk involved in using Bahjat's own marrow. The chance of success is only 50 percent, he said, because if even one cell is bad, the marrow won't take. He added that even though they have been searching for nearly two months to find a donor, they couldn't wait any longer and decided to go ahead with the surgery.

Bahjat, who was first diagnosed with AML last April, had to undergo five days of chemotherapy to destroy his immune system before the Dec. 31 infusion, his father said. Bahjat is now spending four weeks in isolation at the hospital to allow his bone marrow and immune system to rebuild. It takes approximately three weeks before the bone marrow will start rebuilding. Ahmad said the chance of AML reoccurring is great, even if the bone marrow transplant takes, because Bahjat's own marrow was used, and that is why the search for a donor continues.

Bahjat's family is asking the community, in particular those of Middle Eastern origin, to get tested to see if they could be a bone marrow match for Bahjat. His family was tested, but no one matched.

The blood test is simple. Only a few tablespoons of blood are drawn for the initial screening. Anyone interested in undergoing a blood test can schedule an appointment at the Stanford Medical School Blood Center in Palo Alto with Diane Hill at 650/723-5532 to discuss test costs or through the Red Cross with Lara Le Gubler at 577-2151. Charges for the test at the Red Cross range from $45 to $55 for the NMDP/HLA screening. All potential donors must be between 18 and 60 years old and in good health; weigh at least 110 pounds and be no more than 25 percent overweight; have no heart, asthma, diabetes, cancer or auto immune disorders; have had no body piercing, acupuncture, or tattooing done within the last year; or be at risk for hepatitis or HIV.

"Doing the test is not a commitment," Ahmad said, adding that in order to be a donor, five out of six of one's antigens must match the patient's.

Ahmad said they have a fund set up for helping to pay for the test costs for those who can't afford it. While grant programs are set up to help pay for testing costs for different ethnic groups, funding for Caucasian testing is limited, Ahmad said.

Still, he encourages everyone to be tested. Saratoga High School included a flier in its December newsletter about how to be tested.

"There is always a need for bone-marrow donors," Ahmad said. Those who are tested are added to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, which has more three million potential donors registered. Each time a patient needs a bone-marrow transplant, doctors search the registry to see if any potential donors match their patients. "Normally, when you start looking for a donor, time is very short," Ahmad said. He added that out of all the potential donors registered, none matched Bahjat's bone-marrow type.

Once the potential donor confirms he will donate marrow, Ahmad said, an appointment is set up with the hospital for the extraction. During the extraction, the donor is put under general anesthesia while a small amount of marrow is extracted using a special needle and syringe from the lower back near the pelvic area. Ahmad said the whole procedure takes about an hour. Ahmad said the patient then receives the marrow immediately after extraction. The infusion is performed like a blood transfusion and takes only about 15 minutes to complete, Ahmad said. Within two to three weeks, new bone-marrow cells start to form. He added that the only cure for AML is a successful bone-marrow transplant.

Ahmad hopes to find a donor and to have his son healthy again. Until then, he said he will continue his search and look into other experimental options. Ahmad encourages people to call him at 408/395-8211 for more information, or to fax any information they might have to him at 408/395-3997. To donate to the Organ Transplant Fund for Bahjat Alaadel, send checks to Box 291, 4960 Almaden Expwy., San Jose, 95118.

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