Wood Dale mom, donor have more in common than stem cells
When Caroline Manzie was celebrating her 20th birthday, the person who would one day save her life was taking her first breath.
On Sunday, they finally met.
It turns out the Wood Dale mother shares something besides stem cells with 26-year-old Andrea McGavin, who donated hers to help Manzie beat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
After an event at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where some cancer survivors met their bone marrow donors, Manzie and McGavin were exchanging personal data.
"We were born on the same day, almost to the minute, 20 years apart," Manzie said. "I'm no holy roller, but that's got to be coming from something bigger than Loyola Medical Center and our doctors."
McGavin said she was composed for most of the emotional day, but learning she and Manzie shared the same birthday sent shivers down her spine.
"Neither of us cried when we saw each other Sunday; we weren't a wreck because I think we were both really happy to see each other finally," said McGavin, of Norfolk, Va. "But the birthday thing got to all of us."
Manzie, 46, was given a few months to live in 2006. The National Marrow Donor Registry couldn't locate a perfect match for Manzie, but McGavin's was close. Loyola doctors decided to give it a shot and McGavin agreed.
The gamble paid off. Manzie's cancer is in remission. To make this work, doctors dosed Manzie with heavy chemotherapy to kill her cancerous immune system cells. McGavin's healthy bone marrow cells were infused and eventually developed into new immune system cells.
Spare for a few days of soreness after having the marrow drawn out of four spots in her pelvis, McGavin said the process "really wasn't that bad."
"Andrea is a hero, like a fireman who pulls a person out of a burning building," said Dr. Patrick Stiff, director of the Cardinal Bernadin Cancer Center at the medical center. "Because she donated her cells, Caroline is alive today."
McGavin flew out from Virginia for the weekend to meet Manzie and her family. After the medical center picnic, Manzie's family hosted a special party for McGavin at their home.
"I met brothers, sisters, children, grandchildren and a lot of friends," McGavin said. "It was overwhelming, but in a good way."
McGavin said she never balked at the idea of meeting Manzie, but policy kept the two from contacting one another for more than a year after the transplant. However, they'd exchanged letters, and McGavin knew the woman who had received her marrow was doing well.
"I sent her a letter the day before the surgery just to say good luck," McGavin said. "I'm not a big crier, but she sent one back a couple of weeks later and I did burst into tears."
McGavin had signed up for the program in 2004 after a popular chaplain at her college spoke about his cancer struggle that was fought with a bone marrow donation.
"You kind of never know what's going to happen when you sign up," McGavin said. "When they called to say I was a match, it was an indescribable feeling."
Manzie said she feels like she's added a member to her family.
"You can't imagine the range of emotions you go through waiting to meet the person who helped save your life," she said.