Her only concern was Mike
By Ann Evans of the Tima
qua High School "Blue and
White"
She didn't care about tak
ing a flight to Seattle,
Washington, or having to lose
a semester at college, or hav
ing a needle inserted in her
hip 400 times. "My only con
cern was Mike," said Ro
mayne Postupack, sister of
Mike Postupack. Mike was
treated for leukemia at the
Fred Huttchinson Cancer
Research Center, and Ho
mayne recently went there to
donate her bone marrow to
help Mike recover.
Mike entered the hospital in
November of last year to
begin - chemotherapy
treatments and eventually to
have a bone marrow
transplant. Family members
were tested last summer for
matches in blood type and an
tibodies. Romayne said
because he was too young,
their brother Matt could not
serve as a donor but she add
ed, "I was just about a
perfect match."
Romayne did not know in
advance when or what the
procedure would be but she
did know her bone marrow
was essential, the leukemia
cells in Mike's body were kill
ed, and the doctors hoped the
bone marrow could cure him
Completely, Romayne said.
Unfortunately, Romayne, a
special education major at
Penn State, missed the last
two weeks of the4all term and
could not return for the
On
the
job
By Tony Leshinskie
Being a lifeguard is much
More difficult than it ap•
pears, as Tom Berge (6th-
Agricultural Mechanization)
explains. "At the start of the
school year, there were
many certified lifeguards-ap
plying for the few positions
open at the Hazleton Campus
Poe'
"As a lifeguard you learn
discipline and responsibility.
The job can be very boring
at times, but you must be
constantly alert and aware
of any potential dangers
which the swimmers may
unknowingly promote.
"I like the job because it
gives me a sense of respon
sibility, knowing that people
depend on me to keep the
pool safe for their enjoy
ment.
winter term. However, she
does not feel bad about it all
and said, "What I did was
more important than col
lege."
She said, "I didn't know
what to expect (in Seattle).
Everything went so fast."
Both Mike and Romayne
were anxious to "get it over."
She added, "He felt that this
was going to cure him."
Romayne gave her bone
marrow for Mike through a
surgical procedure called
aspirations. During each
aspiration a long needle was
inserted through the muscle
and into the pelvic bone. To
get the right amount of bone
marrow, they went through
"What I did was more im
portant than college."
Romayne Postupack
approximately 400 aspira
tions. "I feel good about help
ing him," said Romayne,
"but I was sore for quite a
while."
Mike received the bone
marrow through a Hickman
line, this tube is put into the
chest and goes to the opening
of the heart. The patient then
does not require being punc
tured with a needle each time
intravenous or blood is given.
The bone marrow
transplant was not the final
step for Romayne or Mike.
Romayne's schedule depend
ed solely on how Mike was
recovering. They each had a
routine to follow during the
normal 100 day healing time
for transplant patients. Ro
mayne explained, "He had to
build his system back up to
normal. They wouldn't let
him out until he could eat and
hold down 1000 calories on his
own."
Not every bone marrow
transplant goes through the
same thing," she said. Mike
did get sick when his body
reacted to the transplant. The
sickness came from Graft
versus Host recipient or
GVH, a natural reaction to a
transplant. "I would be con
sidered foreign to his
system," said Romayne.
However Mike's hospital
stay was prolonged because
of the GVH. He had it three to
four weeks straight. She said,
"Michael was in a lot of
pain."
Mike needed buffy coat
cells and throughout the
GVH, Romayne would go on a
pheresis machine to take
these cells out of her blood.
Romayne did this three and a
half hours each day for ten
days, and then she had four
days rest.
Romayne was very confi
dent about the doctors and the
hospital. "They're very par- .
ticular out there, and they
keep a close watch on
everything," she said. Shd ad
ded, "They helped a lot."
After being referred to the
Seattle hospital by the
Photo by Torn Topoleski
Children's Hospital,
Philadelphia and Sloan-Ket
tering, New York, the
Postupacks found that
families of transplant pa
tients came from all over the
world. The hospital has no set
Visiting hours, and the staff
doesn't dress in white, pro
viding a more' relaxed at
mosphere.
Campus bell
had long ride
The campus bell has an in
teresting history associated
with it. The present bell was
not the first bell on campus.
Originally, a smaller bell was'
situated on a wooden frame
near the Commons, and the
frame can still be seen. That
bell was brought here by
former Campus Director
Frank Costos. saw it at a
demolition site an my way
back from University Park
once and I asked the contrac
tor if I could buy it. He sold it
to me for ten dollars and I
brought it back," explains
Kostos. That bell was even
tually stolen.
The current bell was
brought by Physical Educa
tion Instructor Tom Caccese.
"A friend and I brought it up
from Bambridge, Maryland
on the back of a pickup truck.
I'll never forget it, boy was it
heavy! When we first put it on.
Photo by Tim Reese
Mike returned home
February 13. Although not
confined to the house, he is
not allowed to be in large
crowds but can have , one or
two - visitors at home. In nine
months, he will return to
Seattle for three days and,
hopefully, be pronounced
cured.
Former bell foundation
the truck, I thought we blew
out all four tires," tells Cac
cese. That was back around
1969 or 70 and the bell is still
in the tower today.
The bell has developed pro
blems in a mechanical
ringing device that is current
ly being repaired.