Amy Wisser, a 2008 Hamburg Area High School graduate who went into marketing and eventually became a marketing assistant, has done something that very few people have the courage and heart to do.
On Feb. 1, Amy became a donor for someone who needed a bone marrow transplant. In 2011 she was asked to go on registry and then in 2016 they called her and said they might have a potential match with her white blood cells. She then thought very hard about her decision and her final thought came down to thinking that she could potentially save a sick person’s life.
Amy’s high school friend, Jade Shaffer, had a college roommate with leukemia, who had to undergo many surgeries and multiple bone marrow transplants. The roommate with leukemia died a couple years later which then inspired Amy to donate her bone marrow. She wanted the satisfaction of being able to potentially save someone’s life.
Amy says, “Being able to give back to someone who has had such a long life and is suddenly struck with sickness is most definitely gratifying.”
Through this whole process Jade was her support system and her inspiration to do something life changing.
For this to happen, Amy had to have eight vials of blood taken to make sure she was a positive match. Then she gave 20 vials of blood to check for diseases and to check on her white blood cell count. She was injected five days prior to the transplant to increase her white blood cell count. She did not have to follow a special diet but she was not allowed to take aspirin before the surgery because it could take away white blood cells. On the actual day of the transplant she went into a room where, unconscious, nurses took her white cell count. They took a needle and drew out enough blood to take white blood cells. Around four to five hours later, the procedure was done and they took her blood cells and put them into a saline bag. They then hooked up the bag that had the white blood cells and hooked it up to the man. She will not find out if the transplant worked for about a year and will not find out who the guy is.
All of Amy’s traveling expenses will be paid for and she was given a new temporary insurance card to pay for her procedure. She says that the doctors made sure that there was no hassle on the patient’s part and that the process was made most convenient for the person undergoing the transplant. The medicine that is given to the patient before the process would usually make them sick, but Amy did not get sick. Her whole experience was positive, and she is most satisfied knowing that she could play a role in saving somebody’s life. Amy has inspired her best friend Jade to go onto the registry as well. She is now waiting for a call since she has signed up.
Kiana Wright is a sophomore at Hamburg High School.
