Stanislaus Consolidated Battalion Chief to get bone marrow transplant

Kevin Wise sat in his hospital bed at Kaiser Modesto Medical Center last week, an IV in his arm administering another of dozens of blood transfusions he’s received over the past few months.

The Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District battalion chief went into remission from multiple myeloma in 2012, but in September was diagnosed with leukemia, a result of the intensive chemotherapy he received for the first cancer.

Since then he’s been in the hospital more days than he’s been home, getting countless tests, more chemotherapy, near daily blood transfusions and fighting off infection.

Wise motioned to a small window in his second-floor corner room that overlooks the hospital’s entrance.

“I watch everyone go in and out. ... Life out there is going to continue no matter what happens to you,” Wise said. “I could be in here 100 days, (and) everything out there is still moving along. I can’t wait to get through this process and get back to normal; I thought I was already there.”

But he is a week away from receiving a critical component to his treatment and survival thanks to the generosity of a stranger.

On Dec. 18, Wise will check in for a bone marrow transplant at Stanford University Hospital.

Many of Wise’s relatives, friends and co-workers joined the bone marrow registry with hope of being a match for him. But even his most likely match, his brother, didn’t come close.

They will stay on the registry, however, with the understanding they could be called on to help someone else.

Wise hopes more people will sign up during two registry events being held in his honor Friday in Oakdale and Saturday in Modesto. (See below for registry information)

“There are people out there like me, and if I can (encourage people to sign up) I am paying it forward,” he said.

Being a match for someone in need of bone marrow is all about genetics.

“The opportunity to save someone’s life simply because of the way you are born is pretty amazing,” said Vicki Wolfe, communications manager for BloodSource, the nonprofit organization working with community groups on registry events.

Joining the registry is a simple process of filling out paperwork and getting a cheek swab. Potential donors must be 18 to 44 years old and in good health.

Wolfe said about half of the people on the registry, once determined to be a potential match, decline to donate. Their reasons vary; some have their own health issues, others only signed up to help an individual they know.

So one of the most important requirements for registering is a good-faith commitment to donating bone marrow or blood stem cells if matched to anyone in need.

There are two ways to donate:

▪  Marrow donation is an outpatient surgical procedure in which the donor is under anesthesia and the blood cells are drawn from the bone in the back of the pelvic bone where the cells are produced. Donors can expect to feel some soreness in the lower back for a few days but are back to their usual routines in two to seven days.

▪  Peripheral blood stem cell donation – a nonsurgical procedure in which the the donor takes a drug for four days that encourages the blood stem cells to leave the bone marrow in which they are produced and go into the bloodstream. On the fifth day, the donor donates much like donating blood, but it takes longer. It’s a two-arm process that takes several hours over one or two days. Most PBSC donors report achy flu-like symptoms but are back to a normal routine in one to two days.

The method, Wolfe said, is generally chosen by the transplant facility, about 70 percent of which use the latter.

Wolfe said there is a special need for minorities to join the registry; recipients are more likely to be a match to someone of the same race and ethnicity.

About 66 percent of black patients find a match compared with 93 percent of white patients, according to data from the National Marrow Donor Program.

Doctors found two matches for Wise, both of whom were willing to donate.

There are more than 80 diseases a bone marrow transplant can potentially cure, most commonly leukemia and other blood cancers, Wolfe said.

By introducing new cells into the body, the patient is essentially getting a new immune system that hopefully can fight those cancer cells.

The biggest risks after a transplant are infections or graft vs. host disease where the new immune system might recognize the patient’s body as foreign matter and start attacking its organs.

Wise said he must stay at Stanford Hospital for 30 days but must live near the hospital for another two months to undergo daily testing during that delicate period after the transplant.

He is looking forward to being home with his wife and two children. He wants to do motocross again with his 12-year-old son on the weekends, work out at the gym, go fishing and return to work. “Get back to some sort of normal,” he said.

After one to three years, depending on the country the donor is from, Wise and the donor will have the opportunity to connect. He hopes to someday meet his donor.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Stanislaus Consolidated Battalion Chief to get bone marrow transplant."