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Millboro community rallies around Tammy Vess
By Gina Hamilton • Contributing Writer
MILLBORO - The diagnosis of cancer was gut-wrenching enough last year for resident Tammy Vess; she did not expect having to deal with leukemia this year. And when (hopefully) a donor can be found, she faces a bone marrow transplant in a few months.
The roller-coaster ride of chemotherapy treatments, the debilitating side effects, and the emotional turmoil of not knowing when she will be well again have taken its toll on this family now trying to cope one day at a time.
Tammy's struggle has rallied many in this close-knit community to help with fund drives, food, and now a blood drive next Wednesday, May 14, from noon to 6 p.m., organized by the Millboro Ruritan Club at its facility.
"The doctor said it's very likely that I got the leukemia as a result of the (first round) chemotherapy," she said Monday evening. "I was diagnosed with breast cancer on January 19, 2007, and in February of this year with leukemia, but it started back in October." She said her chemotherapy treatment for the cancer had been successful.
"Now I've had eight pints of blood since February, four pints in one day," Tammy said. "When they do the (bone marrow) transplant, I'll have to have a lot of blood. They're still in the process of testing my family; they haven't found a donor yet." Her hope for wellness hangs on the thread of finding a donor match. Meanwhile, she's had three more monthly chemotherapy treatments and three more are ahead to stabilize the leukemia enough so a transplant can be performed.
Her husband, Michael, said,
It's been pretty rough. My mom,
lost her to cancer at 41. Now my wife has cancer at 42. The good Lord will take care of her; that's what I believe." Their daughter, April, has a family of her own, but son Dusty is still at home and attends Bath County High School.
Michael noted people in town have asked about being a donor. Tammy said the American Red Cross can do the testing.
Besides the health worries, there's also concern over how to arrange for Tammy's care after the bone marrow transplant, which will either be performed at the Virginia Commonwealth Medical Center in Richmond, or at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, where Tammy will travel this week for
second medical opinion. She's been told she'll need to stay in the hospital for one month following the procedure, then remain within
10-minute drive of the hospital for another 100 days for close monitoring.
"Someone has to stay with me all the time," Tammy said. "There's a hospitality house in Richmond that's $10 a night per person, but you can't have food in the room and no kids under 14. I have to have food and something to drink all the time, and my daughter will stay with me; she has two young kids." On Monday, she did not have information yet about any hospitality house near Johns Hopkins.
Tears flowoften from Tammy's eyes these days and welled up again Monday evening as she said softly, "I really appreciate what everyone's doing …"
Blood as lifeline
Seven people from Appalachian Regional Blood Services of the American Red Cross office in Roanoke are expected to conduct Wednesday's blood drive in Millboro, according to Austin Rehfield,donor recruiter for the region.
He said the American Red Cross conducts blood drives to help benefit patients and their families. "Most often, a patient will be using blood products and the family wants to finda way to give back, and hosting or sponsoring a blood drive is an awesome way to do that," he said. "It's something we are always happy to make happen."
As to the blood from the local collection being saved for Tammy, he said, "Those type collections are called direct donations so the donor and patient are matched. That won't occur with this drive, but it will allow other patients who need blood to have blood available."
He added, "Every two seconds in the United States someone needs a blood transfusion. It's not something we can get from animals. Blood is only available from people who come in to donate." Rehfieldsaid fresh-frozen plasma derived from blood can be stored, but typically, what is used for patients are the red blood cells, which stay viable for 42 days in the blood bath. "There's a process for freezing whole blood, but it's not something the U.S. has a lot of amount of. The process is very expensive," he explained. Rehfieldsaid blood at a blood drive is kept in cold storage, not frozen.
"When people donate, we say they can help three lives," he said. "Three bags are there, interconnected with sterile tubing. We fillup one bag with your whole blood, then it separates out the components into plasma, platelets and red blood cells, so three products can go to three different patients."
He said blood donated in Millboro will be used somewhere at a hospital in the Appalachian Regional Blood Services region. "The American Red Cross provides about half the blood used in our country," Rehfieldsaid, noting other collection agencies gather the remainder.
More information is available online at www.givelife.org, or by calling 1-800-givelife.
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