Bone Marrow Used for Something Other Than a BMT

The story below caught my eye today for a few reasons.  I initially clicked because my husband was wounded in Iraq, but as I read on I was really taken with the story from the cancer experience in my life.  My brother had a BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) and I was his donor.  It was the only option after he failed chemo, other than doing chemo again.  In this story, the veteran was given a pair of donated arms with the matching bone marrow.  The bone marrow is so important to the medical success of this case because the veteran's body will recognize the new arms as foreign objects and try to suppress the attachment.  By giving the veteran the matching bone marrow, his body will hopefully accept the new arms without putting up an immune system fight against the new arms.  When the body rejects the bone marrow and arms, this is called GVHD (Graft-versus-host-disease).

My bone marrow was an excellent match when compared to my brother's.  But even then my brother still dealt with complications of GVHD, though eventually his body did accept my bone marrow as his own.  His blood type is mine now, he has curly auburn hair, and other traits of the donor (me).  I wonder for this vet, if it all works out, what kind of traits or any he will have from his donor.  More than anything though, I am so thankful that bone marrow can be used for more than just cancer treatments.  I pray this man's body accepts everything just fine so he can have a 2nd chance at life like my brother has.

If cancer hadn't of happened in my brother's life, this story honestly wouldn't make any sense to me.  I certainly wouldn't understand how amazing and basically miraculous the science behind this procedure is.  It sobers a person, to know these kinds of details.  To know how fragile life.

http://news.yahoo.com/soldier-lost-4-limbs-double-arm-transplant-171015152.html