“They [donors] will be cross-matched with different patients until they are 61 years old,” Ramos said.
Pfau, a Glendale Fire Department employee, had heard about the drive at the department.
The drive was sparked by medical center patient and 43-year-old Glendale resident Asatour Gasparyan, who needs bone marrow. The drive has been aimed at the Armenian community, because research has indicated that an Armenian donor would be the best match for Gasparyan, medical center spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez said.
But donations are also needed for other bone marrow transplant patients.
City of Hope, a cancer research hospital, helps patients look for donors, City of Hope official Vivian Abernathy said.
“Once you need a bone marrow transplant, then you go to City of Hope,” Abernathy said.
Bone marrow donations are generally given to local patients, so donors don’t have to travel long distances, Ramos said.
City of Hope helps patients collect donations and conduct research and transplants, she said.
Donors’ cell samples are registered with the bone marrow donor program, Ramos said.
Donors’ personal information is kept private, so people who donate for a specific patient won’t know if their cell samples went to that person, Ramos said.
Some people who join the bone marrow donor programs have a change of heart when their cell samples don’t match the person they had donated for, she said.
“You have to be willing and able to donate to anybody,” Ramos said.
Scientists take at least two months to process cell samples, she said.
Hasmisk Tovanyan drove from Ventura to Glendale on Thursday to donate cell samples to the bone marrow donor program.
“I have always wanted to do it,” Tovanyan said.
Tovanyan’s mother-in-law was ill several years ago and needed a bone marrow transplant, she said.
Her mother-in-law was in the hospital for about five months until she found a donor who matched her tissue type.
Tovanyan saw a flier about the bone marrow donor drive in Glendale at a grocery store in Hollywood, she said.
“I could be saving someone’s life,” she said.
On Wednesday, Pfau filled out a donor information form and was given a membership card, indicating he was enrolled in the bone marrow donor programs.
He was also given an envelope that contained a pamphlet with four cotton swabs.
He used the cotton swabs to brush four spots inside his mouth.
“It’s just to get an accurate amount of cells,” Ramos told Pfau.
Pfau said participating in the bone marrow donor program can help many people.
“It just seems like the right thing to do,” he said.
