Norris Cotton Cancer Center

For Cameron, "B-positive" is more than just his blood type. He made it his motto, starting the "Be Positive for CHaD Kids" fund and raising $3,500 over the holidays for his fellow patients at CHaD.

"Exhausted and out of breath while visiting my daughter in New Jersey, I barely made it home to New Hampshire to see my doctor in Keene. After a blood test showed that I was dangerously anemic, I was sent to the emergency room for a blood transfusion. There I learned the culprit: leukemia. I was referred to Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon for bone marrow biopsies and chemotherapy. It was there that I met Dr. Mary Chamberlin.

Norris Cotton Cancer Center transplant nurse coordinator, Idalina Williams, describes the steps necessary to become a bone marrow donor. She also reminisces with her former patient Gerald, a bone marrow donor recipient and leukemia survivor, and Kevin, Gerald's bone marrow donor.

In 2002, Dick Birnie was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. Soon after, it was discovered that he also had indolent, or slow-growing, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. His doctors began monitoring his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and over the next two years successfully treated him for prostate cancer. Six years later, Dick's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma became aggressive, requiring active treatment. Now, in 2010, Dick is healthy and enjoying his retirement from Dartmouth College, where he was a geology professor.

In this episode, Jack Heath talks with Idalina Williams, transplant nurse coordinator, and Kevin, a bone marrow donor, about the experience of donating bone marrow. Kevin, an avid New York Yankees fan, donated his bone marrow to Gerry, a Boston Red Sox fan. Kevin and Gerry were recently able to meet one another—at a Red Sox/Yankees game in Boston. Kevin shares his story.