[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 38 (Tuesday, April 12, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               WILLIAM TAFEL, JR., ``PROFILE IN COURAGE''

                                 ______


                         HON. ROMANO L. MAZZOLI

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 12, 1994

  Mr. MAZZOLI. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Bill Tafel, Jr., is a very courageous 
man who lives and works in my hometown of Louisville and Jefferson 
County, KY. He is the son of Bill Tafel, Sr., a longtime personal 
friend, and is a worthy bearer of the family's excellent reputation in 
our community.
  Bill, Jr. is 36 years old, married to Rebecca Tafel, and the father 
of three children. He is a stockbroker and, in the spring of 1993, he 
was diagnosed with leukemia. He returned home to Kentucky recently, 
after spending nearly 4 months in Seattle, WA, receiving bone marrow 
transplant treatments.
  The odds against finding an exact match for a transplant are very 
high. Each of the six antigens--a protein or carbohydrate substance 
which, when introduced into the body, stimulates the production of an 
antibody--must match exactly or the transplanted bone marrow is 
rejected. Such odds would be cause for despair, but not for Bill and 
his family.
  Bill began to research his disease and he began a crusade to increase 
the number of potential bone marrow donors. And, as many people from 
Kentucky and Washington, DC, found out, Bill can be a very persuasive 
fellow.
  Bill was one of the lucky ones when he received that long-awaited 
phone call that an international registry had located a donor in 
France. So far, the treatment has been successful. According to Bill, 
however, the best treatment for him was the positive attitude he has 
maintained throughout this trail.
  A lesson we could all learn from Bill Tafel and those like him is not 
to allow oneself to become frustrated by the task ahead, and, to 
redirect all energies to those things which can be altered and 
controlled and ignore the rest.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting William Tafel, Jr. for his 
efforts to raise public awareness of the need of bone marrow donors. I 
pray that perhaps sometime in the future we will no longer need to 
worry about maintaining such a list. But, until then, Bill and his 
family are to be admired and honored for their work.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that articles from the Louisville Courier-Journal, 
describing this remarkable man, his equally remarkable wife and family, 
and their journey together through illness and into the light be 
included at this point:

               [From the Courier-Journal, Nov. 21, 1993]

                  Marrow Crusader Gets His Transplant

       Bill Tafel, a Louisville stockbroker who has been on a 
     crusade to boost participation in a national registry of 
     potential bone-marrow donors, received his own marrow 
     transplant yesterday at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research 
     Center in Seattle.
       Tafel's wife, Rebecca, said her husband was resting 
     comfortably and watching football yesterday after receiving 
     an overnight blood transfusion. She said he will be in the 
     hospital for several more weeks and will remain in Seattle 
     for about four months so doctors can monitor his progress.
       Bone marrow is a spongy tissue found inside bones. In a 
     bone-marrow transplant, the patient's diseased marrow is 
     destroyed with heavy does of chemotherapy and radiation and 
     healthy marrow is infused into the patient's bloodstream. If 
     successful, the new bone marrow migrates to the cavities of 
     the large bones, grafts and begins producing normal blood 
     cells.
       Tafel, 36, who was diagnosed with leukemia last spring, 
     received bone marrow from a woman in France who was located 
     through an international donor registry. When he found a 
     match several months ago, Tafel had been busy working to 
     register more potential donors after learning that none of 
     the 900,000 people on a national registry of potential marrow 
     donors matched his type. The odds are long for a marrow 
     match--each of six antigens must match precisely or the body 
     will reject the donated marrow.
       Tafel began researching the donor process and learned that 
     American Red Cross blood centers determine the bone-marrow 
     type of people who donate platelets. Platelets, a blood 
     component used to help patients' blood clot during 
     operations, are sometimes used in marrow transplants. But for 
     privacy reasons, those names and marrow types aren't always 
     shared with the National Marrow Donor Program, which operates 
     the national registry.
       Tafel persuaded Red Cross centers, including the one in 
     Louisville, to ask platelet donors if they would consider 
     having their name and type placed on the marrow registry. He 
     also has sought cooperation from labs around the country that 
     analyze blood and determine marrow type for such things as 
     paternity suits.
       For information on registering as a donor, call (502) 588-
     8019.

               [From the Courier-Journal, July 18, 1993]

           Leukemia Victim Helps Even Odds of Finding Donors

                         (By Patrick Howington)

       If you're ever thought one person can't make a difference, 
     or things were so bad you might as well give up, you should 
     meet Bill Tafel.
       Diagnosed with leukemia this spring at age 35, Tefel, a 
     Louisville stockbroker, needs a bone-marrow transplant to 
     stay alive. But none of his relatives has a close enough 
     marrow type to be a donor.
       In fact, almost 900,000 people on a national registry of 
     potential donor, none is a good match. Finding a matching 
     bone-marrow type, Tafel learned, is like coming up with a 
     winning Powerball number--each of six antigens must match 
     precisely, or the body will reject the donated marrow.
       Faced with such odds, Tafel might have sunk into despair. 
     But despair didn't seem the best option to a man with a wife, 
     two children and a baby on the way.
       Instead, after a round of high-intensity chemotherapy that 
     cost him his hair and kept him in the hospital for three 
     weeks, Tafel went home, got back into shape, resumed playing 
     tennis--and started researching his disease.
       He soon realized he could help himself, and others, by 
     registering more people as potential marrow donors.
       One thing he learned was that American Red Cross blood 
     centers determine the bone-marrow type of people who donate 
     platelets. That's because platelets, a blood component used 
     to help patients' blood clot during operations, are sometimes 
     used in marrow transplants. But for privacy reasons, those 
     names and marrow types aren't always shared with the national 
     marrow registry.
       The roughly 50 Red Cross centers that also serve as centers 
     for the marrow registry, platelet donors are routinely asked 
     if they will consider having their name and type placed on 
     the marrow registry, but at about 17 other centers, including 
     Louisville's that doesn't happen. There are reasons for that. 
     The Red Cross' mission is to ensure a safe and adequate blood 
     supply, not to facilitate bone-marrow donations. Donors of 
     blood products are guaranteed confidentiality.
       And Red Cross platelet donors have already agreed to make a 
     considerable sacrifice of time. They sit in a chair for about 
     an hour and a half, a needle in each arm. Asking them to also 
     consider having marrow extracted from their hip could make 
     some donors feel imposed on.
       Also, the number of potential new marrow donors in the Red 
     Cross' platelet-donor pool was relatively small--there were 
     1,000 or fewer in Louisville, for example.
       But to Tafel, the effort would be worthwhile if it yielded 
     a match to save one life, even if it weren't his.
       Over the next few weeks, officials in Louisville and 
     Washington, D.C., learned Bill Tafel can be a persuasive 
     fellow.
       He began calling everyone he thought could help increase 
     the donor pool--from corporate officials who might donate 
     money to pay for typing to Elizabeth Dole, the former labor 
     secretary who is president of the American Red Cross.
       On a Memorial Day weekend visit to Washington, he kept 
     calling Dole's office until he persuaded her appointments 
     secretary to grant him an interview.
       The secretary arranged for Tafel to ride with Dole in a 
     limousine taking her to the airport. When Dole got in, she 
     was confronted with an earnest young man with a shaved head 
     in the wake of chemotherapy.
       As they drove--the trip lengthened when the driver 
     fortuitously missed a turn--Tafel explained his vision of 
     getting Red Cross centers to share the names and marrow types 
     of platelet donors.
       Dole told Tafel she would have an aide send letters urging 
     Red Cross centers to ask platelet donors to consider going on 
     the marrow registry, Tafel said. She also put him in touch 
     with top officials of the National Marrow Donor Program.
       It's ``such a wonderful idea,'' she said in an interview 
     later. ``It's self-evident that it can help.''
       In Louisville, Tafel pitched his case to Dr. David Jenkins, 
     principal officer for the American Red Cross Blood Services' 
     Louisville region. Jenkins agreed to send letters to platelet 
     donors, asking if they want to be listed on the national 
     registry--even though Red Cross officials had rejected that 
     step before.
       Why did Jenkins agree now? Because Tafel is ``very 
     persuasive.''
       Knowing that the national registry had failed to find a 
     match for Tafel ``just re-emphasized the need to get as many 
     people as possible'' on the registry, Jenkins said.
       The Red Cross will start sending letters to its platelet 
     donors this week.
       Now Tafel is ready for the next step--to ask other Red 
     Cross centers to do what Louisville's did.
       It's hard to gauge what good will come of Tafel's zeal. 
     ``We're real excited'' about the Red Cross letters, said Dr. 
     Leonard Sender, medical director of the national marrow 
     program's donor center at the University of Louisville's 
     James Graham Brown Cancer Center. The center has registered 
     about 700 people since starting two years ago. ``We need more 
     people,'' Sender said.
       Meanwhile, Tafel recently learned that a search by an 
     international registry located a woman in France whose bone 
     marrow is a six-for-six antigen match with his.
       He is trying not to get too excited about that. Her blood 
     is being sent to the United States for further analysis, 
     which could determine she's not an ideal match after all.
       But Tafel has already reaped some rewards from his work. He 
     simply feels good about it.
       ``The best treatment is one's positive attitude,'' he said. 
     ``Instead of acting frustrated, it's just a matter of 
     directing energies in the best way possible.
       ``Let's just say that I've enjoyed it. It's been fun.''
       For information on registering as a possible marrow donor, 
     call (502) 588-8049.

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