Alumna helps save a life through blood stem cell donation

As a pharmacist, alumna Dr. Brooke Stayer’s (’10) passion is to help patients, but when she recently served as a blood stem cell donor, she felt she was able to help a patient in a completely new way. Stayer serves as the Assistant Director of Pharmacy Services and PGY1 Residency Program Director at Holston Valley Medical Center. 

What led you to make the donation?

BS: I registered with Be The Match in 2009 during a drive at GCOP and received a call in December 2021 that I was a match for a man with myelodysplastic syndrome. I was asked to consider peripheral blood stem cell donation. The recipient was unknown to me, but I felt an instant connection and desire to help.

Can you describe the process?

BS: I had to undergo an extensive medical questionnaire, physical examination, and lab work-up to ensure I was healthy enough to donate and ensure I had no risk of transmitting a communicable disease to the recipient. This process was done via the phone with a Be The Match representative and locally in Johnson City. Once I was medically cleared, the representative worked on securing a date and location for the donation, which ended up being the first week of January in Houston, TX. I began daily filgrastim injections four days prior to my scheduled donation day, flew out the day prior, donated, and flew back home the following day. The actual donation took place via aphaeresis, which took eight hours. All expenses were paid or reimbursed by Be The Match for me and one companion.

How did you feel after you made the donation?

BS: Physically, tired; mentally, a sense of relief and accomplishment and hope.

How did this process connect with what you do as a pharmacist helping patients?

BS: It was nice to be able to help someone in a way I never could as a pharmacist. I find myself calling the recipient a patient, even though he isn’t my patient. I feel the same type of relationship with him as I do my actual patients because he could easily be one of them.

Anything else you want to ad?

BS: I encourage anyone who is able to register with Be The Match. It has been an extremely rewarding experience. If anyone wants more information about my experience, I am happy to share more.

You may email Dr. Stayer at Brooke.Stayer@balladhealth.org.