The Good Life – September-October 2020

LOCAL HERO | NICK STENZEL
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: NICK STENZEL
"I compare the procedure to a
plasma donation. You have a
needle in one arm that's drawing
blood out of you, taking it to
a machine and separating the
'layers of blood,'" he says. "They
keep what they need, and then you
have a needle in the opposite arm
that's delivering blood back into
your body."
the last week with the pain I was
feeling," he recalls. "I said, 'I'm
sure this is a fraction of what you're
going through,' and I hope this all
goes well."
Two-Plus Ways to Save a Life
For the actual donation process,
two common methods exist:
(1) traditional bone marrow
extraction and transplant or (2)
peripheral blood stem cell donation
(PBSC). Again, the recipient's
doctor decides what's best for the
recipient, depending on their age,
health conditions and other factors.
Nick's method was PBSC which
required two injections per day of
the cancer drug Filgrastim, five
days leading up to the donation.
Designed for people with
compromised immune systems,
the drug stimulates the growth of
and creates a surge of white blood
cells for extraction during the
donation.
"It makes the donor feel really
achy and sore," Nick says. "It was
debilitating. It hit me a lot harder
than I thought it was going to."
Thankfully, Nick found support
(and at-home remedies) through a
closed Facebook group for Be The
Match donors.
While the PBSC donation can
take anywhere from 2 to 8 hours,
Nick's procedure lasted just over
two hours – and his bone pain
subsided almost completely
after the donation. "Based on
how relatively easy it is, and the
biggest impact that it can have ...
it was nothing," Nick says. "If it
saves her life for five days of my
discomfort, it's nothing."
Fostering Hope Amidst Pandemic
With the challenges of COVID-19
and its effects on the healthcare
industry, Nick holds out hope
for his immuno-compromised
transplant recipient and wishes
her "many more years of a healthy
life," as he holds out hope to meet
her in person someday.
"I think if I understood it right, we
can communicate anonymously
for a year. And after a year – if she's
still living – then we can decide
if we want to meet in person,"
Nick explains. Sixty days after
the donation – donors receive
notification of whether or not the
recipient survived the procedure.
"I hope this virus – at least for the
short term – helps people not take
anything for granted," Nick says.
"If someone is presented with
the opportunity to save somebody
else's life, I hope they jump on it –
with or without this virus."
Even during a global pandemic,
the world traveler – setting foot in
40-plus countries – has gained so
much perspective from what he's
heard and seen. "Having been to a
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