Perth resident urges others to give blood

Posted Jan 26, 2012 By Kassina Ryder

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EMC News - Tony Hendriks' wife, Lynda, is with him every step of the way during his battle with leukemia - literally.

Hendriks spends part of each day walking to keep his energy up during his treatment process. Whether he's walking around the nurse's station at the Ottawa General (four trips around the station is equal to one kilometre), or walking the streets of Perth, Lynda is walking, too.

Hendriks was diagnosed with leukemia last fall and has undergone chemotherapy and other treatments ever since. But before treatment could begin, he needed multiple blood and platelet transfusions. He said that's when he began to realize how important it is to give blood.

"You don't really realize that until you need blood," he said. "People can donate platelets too, which I need on a regular basis." Hendriks said since his diagnosis, he has learned of many other Perth residents living with different forms of cancer who also need blood regularly.

"The more you get involved, you realize there are a lot of people in town," he said. "One gentleman has been getting blood products since 2007. You're not alone." Hendriks said giving blood is one of the easiest ways to help someone in need.

"It's cheap as a donation," he said.

"It takes you an hour and it doesn't cost you anything." Hendriks has had as many as three different types of chemotherapy treatments in one day.

He said the most important thing he needs to do is to try and stay as healthy as possible.

"I try not to touch anything that I don't have to," he said.

Chemo has not only destroyed his immune system, it has destroyed his sense of taste and smell. Hendriks said even having a drink of water became a chore.

"It affects your taste buds, you don't feel like eating," he said. "I got to the point where I hated the taste of water." Lynda said he started putting an inch of fruit juice in his drinking water to make it a little more appetizing.

"Things smell different, too," she said.

Treatment has also become a full time job, Lynda added.

"The disease is time-consuming," she said. "Up until now we've been at the hospital every day, sometimes every two days." Cancer fatigue is another battle. Treatment and stress can take a toll on energy reserves, but Hendriks said Lynda makes sure he maintains as much energy as he can.

"Lynda's good for fighting that for me," he said.

Lynda said she knows how important it is for her husband to keep his energy level up.

"It's a balance between getting the rest you need and not giving in," she said. "If you give in, it gets worse.

"You have to kind of keep that energy level as best you can." A bone marrow transplant is Hendriks' best chance at a cure and he was scheduled to receive one on today (Jan. 26).

Amazingly, both of his sisters are matches for a bone marrow transplant, which is extremely rare.

"It's pretty unusual," he said. "Normally there's a 25 per cent probability that a sibling matches." Hendriks' older sister, Patricia, travelled from Hamilton, Ont. to be his donor.

Preparing for the transplant means a whole new set of drugs and regimens.

Hendriks took drugs to thicken his skin in preparation for radiation treatment, as well as drugs so strong he had to urinate every hour for 48 hours to get it out of his system. Failing to do so would destroy his bladder and kidneys.

"You actually have to set an alarm clock," Lynda said.

All of this is to prepare for total body radiation, which will destroy his cancerous bone marrow and make room for Patricia's healthy marrow.

"You turn beet red and you lose any hair you still have," he said about the radiation treatment. His skin will then turn golden brown "just like you've been on holidays - at least that's what they tell us," he joked.

If the transplant is a success, Patricia's marrow will spread into the cavities of Hendriks' larger bones and begin making healthy blood cells.

Beating the disease Hendriks said even healthy people get cancer.

"It's bad luck," he said. "There's no way of telling." Even so, he said living a healthy lifestyle is key to having the strength to beat the disease.

"My advice to everybody is stay healthy," he said. "The main thing is that you're healthy enough to get through it." Lynda agreed.

"If you're not well and you go in with a lot of complications, it takes a bad situation and makes it worse," she said. "A transplant is very risky, you have to be pretty healthy outside of the disease." Hendriks said in addition to the physical aspects of fighting cancer, having a support base is just as important. He and Lynda send regular emails to friends and family keeping them up to date on his progress.

"Throughout the disease, support from all the people you know means a lot, too," he said.

Hendriks said he encourages everyone to donate blood at the next Blood Donor Clinic at the Perth Civitan Hall on March 2.

kassina.ryder@perthcourier.com




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