Local mail carrier donates stem cells to stranger

Prior Lake American

In February 2011, Prior Lake resident Tracy Peterson held a local bone marrow drive for her sister, Kelly Peroceschi.

Peroceschi had been diagnosed with stage four chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a blood cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She had gone through an unsuccessful round of chemotherapy and was not a match with any of her siblings.

Unfortunately, Peroceschi didn’t find her match — she died in August 2012 at age 48.

“I think we had a little over 100 people show up for us,” Peterson said. “Just our family’s one probably brought in 200 or so samples.”

Prior Lake resident and Burnsville mail carrier Deb Ochetti was one of the 200.

Ochetti had read about Peroceschi in the newspaper and headed to the drive to have her cheek swabbed. She was put on the registry in 2011. In 2014, she got the call.

She was a match.

“I would periodically think about it and I would say to myself, ‘I wonder if I will ever be called, it would be so cool to help somebody out,’” Ochetti said. “They asked me, at that point, if I was still interested and I said, ‘absolutely.’”

Finding a match is somewhat of a rarity. While 70 percent of bone marrow patients — 14,000 every year — need a match outside of their family, only four in 10 patients are able to find a donor, according to the website for DKMS, a nonprofit bone marrow organization.

Being a match is more than blood type. Doctors search for core matching markers in DNA as well as the human leukocyte antigen, protein markers found on cells that deal with immune system regulation. Human leukocyte antigen similarities are generally found in people who share the same ancestry.

A close match increases the likelihood that the patient’s body won’t try to fight off the donated cells, according to DKMS.

“It’s actually astonishing statistics,” Ochetti said. “That’s why there’s such a need for people to step forward and do cheek swabs because the more people that will come out and do a cheek swab, it helps build that registry list of potential donors.”

Registries like DKMS, Be The Match, the Gift of Life and the Icla da Silva Foundation all do cheek swab tests and place a person on the national registry. Doctors are able to then search this registry by human leukocyte antigen type and find the markers that are closest to their patient.

Less than one percent of those on the registry will be matched with a patient.

“It’s a personal decision for people, but it’s a totally painless thing,” Peterson said. “You swab your mouth. That’s it.”

The national registry sent Ochetti a manual of information regarding the donation process and what to expect that she read “cover to cover.” There were multiple blood draws and testing as well as a “very extensive” phsyical. All in all, the process before donation was spread out over three months.

“It covered everything you could possibly imagine because of course, they need to make sure the donor is as healthy as healthy can be because the donor cells will be going to the recipient and they’re already a very, very sick person,” Ochetti said.

Ochetti knew her match was a 42-year-old female leukemia patient, but the process for donations is largely anonymous. She did send her match a few cards through the donation organization. Ochetti wished her well, and told her she was praying for her.

“I would love to someday have the chance to perhaps meet her, but you never know how it’ll play out,” Ochetti said. “It’s all very private and discreet and with the hope that perhaps there will be more but sometimes, there never is.”

Ochetti did receive one more piece of information about her match — the patient was able to take stem cells or a bone marrow donation. Peripheral blood stem cell donations are used in about 75 percent of cases, according to DKMS, and are collected by drawing blood and filtering out the stem cells. The remaining blood is returned.

Actual bone marrow donations are generally used when the patient is a child. Bone marrow tissue is collected through a one to two hour surgery during which the patient is under anesthesia. Marrow cells are collected using a syringe from the back of the hip bone.

Ochetti opted for the stem cell donation, as the process was less invasive and her match could take either — though she told the agency that she would do a marrow donation if necessary.

A few days prior to stem cell donation, donors are given daily injections of filgrastim, a protein designed to help release more peripheral blood stem cells from the spongy bone marrow tissue that produces them.

There were a few side effects, including muscle aches and fatigues, but they were minor, Ochetti said.

“How I look at it was any side effects that I might experience would be temporary and the chance to give someone life would be such a blessing and it doesn’t get much better than that,” Ochetti said. “(The side effects) lasted approximately three weeks and then I really felt like I was back to myself after that.”

Finally, in March 2015, Ochetti donated.

“I just woke up that morning and I had so much joy in my heart thinking about what I was going to go do that day and it was going to give somebody a chance at life,” Ochetti said. “I just remember being thrilled that day and so excited.”

Peterson said Ochetti is the second person that she knows of who was at least contacted to donate after signing up at the drive for her sister.

“I’m thrilled,” Peterson said. “Maybe it’s meant to be. That’s a very kind and loving thing to do for a stranger.”

News of Ochetti’s donation spread. A friend of Ochetti’s took a picture of her and wrote something short to present at the mail carrier booth at the Minnesota State Fair. The Be The Match program held a walk-a-thon and featured Ochetti’s story and photo. She received an award from her local union for the Above the Call of Duty Award as well as an award from the state for the Civil Servant of the Year.

The recognition makes her uncomfortable, but it’s a chance to share her story and raise awareness about bone marrow and stem cell donation, Ochetti said.

“I just had to kind of step aside from all the uncomfortableness of this and realize there was a much bigger plan that was happening here,” Ochetti said. “And just the fact of being able to promote the Be The Match program and the importance of doing a cheek swab and going on the registry has perhaps, the potential of helping somebody have life. It’s just really, really special.”

She doesn’t know if she saved the leukemia patient, but Ochetti said she hopes she can be the match as many times as she can.

“I would love to have the opportunity to help someone again,” Ochetti said. “That would be so neat.”