Travis member helps save a life

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mary Beth Bemis
  • 349th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
It is a decision that could possibly be a matter of life or death for a 59-year-old female recipient suffering from cancer. For Mr. John Lacomia, 60th Air Mobility Wing Historian, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

"I feel that I'm doing the right thing by helping people," said Mr. Lacomia. "It's so easy to say 'no,' but really, how hard is it to say 'yes'?"

About four months ago during a blood drive here, Mr. Lacomia had the chance to say "yes." "Who would have known that two weeks after giving blood in a portable trailer, that I would be a bone marrow match for someone?" Mr. Lacomia said.

A blood donor since age 17, Mr. Lacomia was just doing what he does on a regular basis - give blood. The technician asked him if he had ever thought about being a bone marrow donor for the DoD transplant program. When he agreed to have his marrow sampled, he never dreamed that he would be a match so quickly.

Two weeks later he was asked to come in and donate seven vials of blood because he was a "possible match." Two weeks after that donation he and his wife, Tech. Sgt. Suzana Lacomia, chaplain assistant, 349th Air Mobility Wing Chaplain's Office, were flown to Washington, D.C., where he donated 17 more vials.

Half of the donated vials were used for testing the marrow and stem cells for the matching process, the other half were used for research, explained Mr. Lacomia. The historian proved to be a perfect match.

The process Mr. Lacomia participated in was a stem cell transplant. The stem cell process is less invasive and painful than bone marrow harvesting. A donor has a lifetime limit of two donations for either procedure.

To prepare for the harvest of stem cell, Mr. Lacomia had two injections of the drug Newpogen each day for five days prior to the procedure. The medication pushes the stem cells out of the bone marrow and into the blood stream, said Mr. Lacomia.

The actual procedure of harvesting the stem cells lasted about five hours. That morning he and his wife will drive to a medical facility in Berkeley, where Mr. Lacomia will receive his last two shots, undergo another blood draw, and then the harvesting will begin.

"I'm glad to do this," Mr. Lacomia said. "I want to be able to leave this world someday, just knowing that I was able to help."