Bobby Hooten, a web content manager, was one of the 240 students, faculty, and staff who registered to be a blood stem cell and bone marrow donor during a campus-wide drive hosted last fall by Delete Blood Cancer. This organization hosts drives all over the country in order to collect registrants to be able to save the 70 percent of patients who have to look outside of their immediate family for donors.
Four months after registering the international registry for blood marrow donor center, Hooten got a call saying he was matched. Many people who register in this program go years without being a match because of the rigorous criteria. “I’m so thankful that LCU gave me the opportunity to be a part of something like this. I just think it’s a way that I can definitely make a positive impact on someone’s life, and it aligns perfectly with the university’s mission. In fact, I have people coming up to me at work saying ‘this is so cool, whatever you need, we will take care of it’. The enthusiasm behind it is really encouraging.”
Right after Hooten was told he was a match, he began the process of donating. He has had several doctor’s appointments and will begin his last stage of the process this week. He will get injected with Filgrastim for four days leading up to the final donation. These shots help move the stems cells out of the bone marrow into the blood stream. When this happens your body begins to have flu-like symptoms. Hooten ready for it, saying, “I see this as a relatively small imposition for my part, and this is giving a second chance to someone that they may not have otherwise. Why would I not do this?”
At the conclusion of the series of shots, he will leave for the partner hospital to finalize the process by donating his stem cells in a six- to eight-hour transfusion. “There’s a lot of times where it is very surreal that this is actually happening to me, especially when you consider the fact that there is someone out there whom I don’t even know, that has the same genetic makeup that I do. I’m just so grateful that I work at a place where helping others is so encouraged. I just pray for the family I will be affecting everyday hoping that I can help.”
Lubbock Christian University has 2000 students and is a four-year private master’s level institution that promotes unique educational opportunities with a strategic focus on student success in four key areas: spiritual formation, intellectual growth, personal stewardship and leadership development. Degree programs are offered for both bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees. Since 1957, the school has offered academic excellence in a Christian environment. For more information about Lubbock Christian University visit their website at www.lcu.edu.
(News release from Lubbock Christian University)