{"id":272369,"date":"2024-09-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=272369"},"modified":"2024-09-05T21:00:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:00:58","slug":"fort-cavazos-soldier-donates-bone-marrow-to-baby-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=272369","title":{"rendered":"Fort Cavazos Soldier donates bone marrow to baby in need"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Sgt. Dalia Javiel Kesterson, deputy master of ceremonies, Secretary of the General Staff, III Armored Corps, and 1st Sgt. Justin Kesterson, battery first sergeant for 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, kiss their daughter Samira for a photo at III Armored Corps headquarters at Fort Cavazos.
\n (Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Sgt. Dalia Javiel Kesterson, III Armored Corps )<\/span>
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014<\/strong> In 2022, Sgt. Dalia Javiel Kesterson signed up for bone marrow donor registry through Salute to Life online, not thinking much of it. Over time, it was promptly forgotten until April, when Kesterson finally got the call, saying she was a match.<\/p>\n

To her, the choice was simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019ll do it,\u2019\u201d said Kesterson, deputy master of ceremonies, Secretary of the General Staff, III Armored Corps. \u201cWhen I found I matched, I was like, \u2018Well, I already signed up.\u2019 They (the family) already got told that they got a match so why not? What\u2019s two weeks in bed going to do to me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her match was an infant girl less than a year old, Kesterson said, and she needed bone marrow quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a daughter the same age,\u201d Kesterson expressed. \u201cShe\u2019s not a year old; she\u2019s only 10 months right now. And in my head, I thought, \u2018There\u2019s somebody out there holding their little girl, hoping somebody donates, and that if it was my daughter, I would want it. I would want somebody to donate.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The chance of a registered potential donor actually donating is one in 430, according to Salute to Life, a bone marrow donor center for service members and those affiliated with the Department of Defense. Even if matched, 50% of people are unable or unwilling to donate. For those in need of bone marrow, donors are crucial, as 70% of patients are unable to find a matching donor within their family.<\/p>\n

For Kesterson, there had actually been another donor that had been contacted before her. So, she waited a few months until she received another call late July, saying the first donor fell through, and she was needed.<\/p>\n

There are approximately 17,000 individuals diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers or diseases each year, according to Salute to Life. Around 500 of those alone are DOD personnel.<\/p>\n

Salute to Life has had more than 9,000 donations since its inception 1991. The process to donating is just three simple steps, said Chad Ballance, a senior recruiter for Salute to Life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first step is to register,\u201d he explained, \u201cand so a Soldier can register by simply doing two swabs of their cheek and filling out some information about themselves, consenting to be a part. That\u2019s what 1.3 million (DOD personnel) have done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second step is a blood draw, and it\u2019s basically a preliminary test to confirm whether or not you are a genetic match,\u201d he continued. \u201cSo 100,000 have done that test \u2014 that blood draw. Then from that, that third and final step of our program is the donation process, which is what 9,300 people have actually done.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are two ways to donate \u2014 a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoldiers, Sailors, etc., would go and receive a shot 9 o\u2019 clock in the morning for five days consecutively,\u201d Ballance said. \u201cThat shot of a drug called filgrastim is going to increase their already existing peripheral blood stem cells. And then on day five, that Soldier presents at the same time, and then that\u2019s where they hook them up to the apheresis machine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey circulate the blood, and then they extract those surplus peripheral blood stem cells that we create more of, and we take those surplus and give those to the patient, returning the other whole blood product back through the body, right to the body,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

He noted most donors will experience mild, flu-like symptoms, including achiness and fatigue, as they go through the donation process, but they are short in duration.<\/p>\n

Dalia donated the traditional way, giving bone marrow.<\/p>\n

For this process, a donor is put under general anesthesia. A surgical syringe is inserted into the hip bones, where no more than 5% of the donor\u2019s bone marrow will be extracted, Ballance said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe marrow regenerates within a one- to two-week period,\u201d he explained. \u201cDuring that time period, as the regeneration is occurring, the Soldier can expect to have soreness in their hip in general, fatigue as the marrow regenerates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dalia recalled being nervous, but was put at ease by the hospital staff assisting her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a surgical procedure that\u2019s scary, but they (doctors, nurses and staff) made me feel so comfortable,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone kept telling me, \u2018This is a good thing you\u2019re doing.\u2019 I was like, I don\u2019t want to think about needles going into my back, but the harvesting team was really, very nice to me. They answered any and all questions that I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the actual donation, Dalia was able to bring her husband, 1st Sgt. Justin Kesterson, battery first sergeant for 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, and her daughter Samira. Donors are provided or reimbursed for flights, lodging and food costs, as well as child care and pet care, according to Ballance. Service members also receive permissive temporary duty for any time away from work for the donation process.<\/p>\n

Justin was proud of his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was a great thing for her to do,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause I think, in my opinion, we live in a very selfish world. So for her to be unselfish like that, knowing it was going to put her in pain and she had a recovery time and she still wanted to do it, I found that very noble.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both feel like if we got something to offer, then we\u2019d love to help people,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Dalia reflected on the experience, grateful to be able to help someone.<\/p>\n

It was great,\u201d Dalia said. \u201cIt was a little scary knowing that you\u2019re going into surgery, but I think it was like an honor to be able to help somebody, especially like a little girl that age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dalia donated the bone marrow Aug. 8. The last update Dalia received was the day after the donation, where someone from Salute to Life informed her the baby had received the bone marrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it worked out for them,\u201d she expressed. \u201cI hope they get to enjoy their baby for the holidays because she should be turning a year old soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on Salute to Life and to register as a donor, visit www.salutetolife.org<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sgt. Dalia Javiel Kesterson, deputy master of ceremonies, Secretary of the General Staff, III Armored Corps, and 1st Sgt. Justin Kesterson, battery first sergeant for 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, kiss their daughter Samira for a photo at III Armored Corps headquarters at Fort Cavazos. (Photo Credit: Photo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272371,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=272369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272372,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272369\/revisions\/272372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/272371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=272369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=272369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=272369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}