Bone marrow matches hard to find for Alaska Natives

Sunday, January 15, 2006 - by Rebecca Palsha   

KTUU Channel 2 Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska - After being diagnosed with leukemia last month, more than 1,000 Alaskans signed up to help Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Susan Butcher, bringing to light a need for bone marrow donors -- but one group needs more help than others. According to the Blood Bank of Alaska, there is a desperate need for bone marrow for Alaska Natives because if a donor can't be found within a family, a cancer patient has almost no options.

Photo after photo, reveals a happy family. But behind the smiles you'll find something else.

“July 5 was our first anniversary, and two days later we got the phone call from the doctor,” said Nora Noranagruk (right).

It was a phone call that would change the lives of Nora and Nathan Noranagruk forever.

“I got the phone call on July 7th that it looks like leukemia, but we have to do a bone marrow biopsy to confirm it,” said Noranagruk.

It was cancer and the odds of finding Nora a bone marrow donor were slim, even less because Noranagruk is an Alaska Native.

“If an Alaska Native comes down with leukemia lymphoma, if they can't find match within family, they have a very small chance to find somebody on the registry,” said Gregg Schomaker (left), with the Blood Bank of Alaska. The reason, according to the Blood Bank of Alaska, is because 70 percent of bone marrow donors are white.

“Native Americans are 1.3 percent overall and Native Alaskans out of the Native Americans is less than 1 percent,” said Schomaker.

This means Nora would have to find a donor from within her own family. According to the Blood Bank, there is only a 30 percent chance that can happen, but Nora beat the odds.

“We got the news that two of my brothers had matched,” said Noranagruk.

What followed next was a bone marrow transplant from Nora's youngest brother Will.

Then recovery came next. Nora became one of the lucky few, but for other Alaska Natives, finding a bone marrow transplant seems almost impossible.

“My dad had died from leukemia back in ’79, so that was back when transplants were just being developed and just starting and he couldn't get a match,” said Noranagruk.

“It’s really sad. We need more people to be aware of it,” said Schomaker.

By being aware, Noranagruk says she hopes to see more survivors like herself.

“I really feel like I've been cured,” said Noranagruk.

Nora just reached her six-month anniversary since she received her bone marrow transplant. She says she isn't considered cancer-free for five years, but she does feel certain the cancer is gone.

As for donating, according to the Blood Bank, a donor will experience pain equal to falling on the ground. It's not surgery and Noranagruk's donor, Will, was up and walking after he had donated his stem cells.