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Cub Scout parents and members of the community came together last weekend to help a fellow scout mom fighting leukemia.
Cub Scout Pack 5, of Maercker School District 60 in Westmont, held a bone marrow donor drive Nov. 21 to benefit Westmont resident Christy Johnson, who is hospitalized receiving treatment for leukemia.
Johnson is the mother of Tiger Scout Colton Johnson, a member of Cub Pack 5.
The marrow drive was held at the Christian Church of Clarendon Hills.
Dawn Price, organizer of the bone marrow drive, said they had 48 registered for the National Marrow Registry List during the event. It will take about six weeks to determine if any samples match Johnson, or anyone else on the list of those waiting for donors.
“It was a very positive event, and we had a lot of volunteers that came out,” Price said. “I’m proud of everyone who made this happen.”
Price said the purpose was to not only try to find a match for Johnson, but for other people who may need a marrow transplant.
“While the drive was held to find potential matches for Christy, our hope is that we can find a match for anyone who is in need,” Price said.
The process of donating is easy. Price said it is done by taking a DNA swab of the inside of the mouth, and the sample is tested through a lab.
If someone is found, and the donor agrees, cells are harvested through blood, rather than through the backbone, as it used to be done, said Johnson’s husband, David Maculef.
Johnson, 40, was not able to attend the drive, as she is in the University of Minnesota Hospital after receiving a stem cell transplant through a donated umbilical cord, said Maculef.
She underwent the procedure a couple weeks ago, and is now receiving treatment at the hospital, he said.
“It will take 100 days before we find out if her white blood cell count returns,” Maculef said. “At that time, they will do a bone biopsy to find out if it was successful.”
Reached at the hospital Friday Nov. 20, Maculef said his wife is conscious, and doctors have told him that she is doing as well as she can under the circumstances.
“Everything appears to be normal so far,” he said.
While the family may have to celebrate Christmas at the hospital campus, Maculef said the family is optimistic that Johnson could return home sometime toward the end of January.
Cub Scout parents and members of the community came together last weekend to help a fellow scout mom fighting leukemia.
Cub Scout Pack 5, of Maercker School District 60 in Westmont, held a bone marrow donor drive Nov. 21 to benefit Westmont resident Christy Johnson, who is hospitalized receiving treatment for leukemia.
Johnson is the mother of Tiger Scout Colton Johnson, a member of Cub Pack 5.
The marrow drive was held at the Christian Church of Clarendon Hills.
Dawn Price, organizer of the bone marrow drive, said they had 48 registered for the National Marrow Registry List during the event. It will take about six weeks to determine if any samples match Johnson, or anyone else on the list of those waiting for donors.
“It was a very positive event, and we had a lot of volunteers that came out,” Price said. “I’m proud of everyone who made this happen.”
Price said the purpose was to not only try to find a match for Johnson, but for other people who may need a marrow transplant.
“While the drive was held to find potential matches for Christy, our hope is that we can find a match for anyone who is in need,” Price said.
The process of donating is easy. Price said it is done by taking a DNA swab of the inside of the mouth, and the sample is tested through a lab.
If someone is found, and the donor agrees, cells are harvested through blood, rather than through the backbone, as it used to be done, said Johnson’s husband, David Maculef.
Johnson, 40, was not able to attend the drive, as she is in the University of Minnesota Hospital after receiving a stem cell transplant through a donated umbilical cord, said Maculef.
She underwent the procedure a couple weeks ago, and is now receiving treatment at the hospital, he said.
“It will take 100 days before we find out if her white blood cell count returns,” Maculef said. “At that time, they will do a bone biopsy to find out if it was successful.”
Reached at the hospital Friday Nov. 20, Maculef said his wife is conscious, and doctors have told him that she is doing as well as she can under the circumstances.
“Everything appears to be normal so far,” he said.
While the family may have to celebrate Christmas at the hospital campus, Maculef said the family is optimistic that Johnson could return home sometime toward the end of January.
Johnson was originally diagnosed with leukemia in 2008, and she and Maculef were married earlier this year. At the time, Johnson was in remission.
But the leukemia returned only a few days after their honeymoon in July, Maculef said.
While the family awaits the results of the biopsy, and to find out if any matches have been found, Maculef stressed the importance of birth mothers donating their umbilical cords for stem cell use.
“This is not embryonic stem cells taken from a fetus — these cells are taken from the umbilical cords themselves after the baby is born,” he said. “In this case, it could save Christy’s life.”
