“At the end of 2020 I received the gift to save the life of another person. And so my year 2021 began with a feeling that I can hardly put into words, ”says Julia Nitzbon from Edermünde-Haldorf.
The mother of two children has been registered with the German Bone Marrow Donor Center (DKMS) for many years, because it is natural for her to help if necessary.
The SMS
In the summer of 2020, the 32-year-old received an SMS message asking DKMS to call you back. She was told that she was a potential donor for someone else. Shortly afterwards, Nitzbon received a questionnaire with 50 questions about her state of health by post. In October a packet with tubes for blood samples arrived in Haldorf. The Haldorf woman had her blood drawn from her family doctor and sent the package back to DKMS. “Until then, it wasn’t even clear whether I was a hundred percent genetic twin at all. Because the chance of finding your genetic twin is 1 in 1,000,000 ”.
The preparation
In December, DKMS in Tübingen finally announced to Nitzbon that it was the perfect genetic twin. At the end of 2020, the 32-year-old had to travel to a clinic in Dresden, where she was completely turned upside down medically. “When I got the result of the examination that I was healthy and ready, I was incredibly proud and happy”. We returned to Haldorf with a lot of medication in our luggage, including hormone-like growth factors that are supposed to stimulate the reproduction of stem cells. Although some side effects were listed on the medication leaflet, Nitzbon only had back pain, which was bearable.
The donation
At the beginning of January Julia and her husband Marc went back to the clinic in Saxony. The train journey to Dresden took five hours – on the advice of DKMS not only with a mask, but also with gloves. There they spent the night in the hotel. The next morning Julia went straight to the clinic. Her husband Marc was not allowed to accompany her due to the corona pandemic. At the hospital, Julia was hooked up to a device that filters the stem cells and blood. “400 milliliters of stem cells were tapped from me in five hours. After that I was exhausted, but still happy, ”says the 32-year-old. Since the recipient, a young man from England, was unable to receive the donation immediately due to the corona pandemic, the stem cells had to be frozen.
The feedback
And nothing more was necessary. After a hearty meal, Julia Nitzbon and her husband started their journey home, accompanied by the exuberant feeling of happiness that they had helped someone. The Haldorf woman does not find out whether the campaign was successful until 100 days after the transplant from the DKMS.
The establishment of contact
Personal contact with the recipient is currently not yet possible for the young woman, a DKMS clause, as Julia Nitzbon says. An anonymous letter contact, however, is already allowed. The 32-year-old has already initiated the first via DKMS. If both sides want to exchange ideas personally or even visit, this is only possible after two years.
The bottom line
“It was an accolade for me to be able to help. Because no one can take this feeling of being a lifesaver away from me. It was my very own 6 in the lottery, simply an act of charity “
By Peter Zerhau
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