It's a medical crisis one Traverse City family can relate to, after their five week old daughter was diagnosed with a life threatening illness.
By Roxanne Werly
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 11:37 a.m.
The only cure for the disease rested in the hands of an anonymous bone marrow donor, and now a year after her transplant 21-month-old Shannon Crider is a happy healthy little girl.
"When she first went into Munson my first thought its just a simple sickness, she'll be just fine," says Shannon's dad, Dave. "Then when they said they were flying her to Grand Rapids that's when panic set in, that was scary."
What began as a fever soon escalated into a life threatening diagnosis. Dave and Bobbie Crider spent several weeks with their daughter in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.
While there she was diagnosed with a life threatening auto immune disorder. Doctors told Dave and Bobbie their daughter had less than a fifty five percent chance of survival. Shannon's mom remembers how hard the news was to take. "It was very tough, I was scared for her life initially now knowing a lot about the disease, and everything I did find on it didn't look good. We knew when she was diagnosed we'd be working toward a transplant, and they started looking for donors at that point." While doctors treated Shannon with steroid injections and chemotherapy treatments a bone marrow match was found. " Very often someone in the family matches," Explains Doctor Daniel Pietryga, "but as fate would have it there wasn't a match, so we had to look at an unrelated donor pool." |  |
People interested in becoming a bone marrow donor will either get a blood test or a mouth swab. The cell markers are then placed into a computer data base which is available to hospitals around the world. When a match is found the donor is contacted and asked if they are still interested. Doctor Pietryga says while the procedure for a bone marrow donor does require anesthesia, the initial side effects are minimal with just slight aches and pains and within 48 hours most donors are back to normal activities.
The Crider family was told Shannon's donor is a 21 year old woman, and now that a year has passed since the surgery, if both parties agree, they can get in touch with one another. Bobbie hopes they can meet her daughter's donor. "She dropped everything she had to do to make this happen, I am grateful for her doing this for Shannon. I would like to meet her one day. We cherish every moment."
As a result of the crisis the Criders feel more people in the Traverse City community are more aware of the bone marrow need and many have actually been put on the national registry to help others.
If you'd like to learn more about becoming a bone marrow donor you can contact the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids or the Michigan Community Blood Center in Traverse City.
