Song Ning, a 31-year-old teacher in Beijing, donated her own hematopoietic stem cells to save a stranger.
On December 14 last year, at the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force General Hospital, 200 milliliters of red and white hematopoietic stem cell suspension was isolated from Song Ning's body and injected into the body of a leukemia patient on the same day. Song Ning became the 7870th case in China, the 330th case in Beijing and the 3rd case in Daxing District to be a successful donor of unrelated hematopoietic stem cells.
On January 4, 21 days after completing the donation, Song Ning came to the school as usual for 4 classes. "It's back to normal." Song Ning said.
Song Ning donated hematopoietic stem cells. Courtesy of respondents
"Buzz, buzz." Song Ning's mobile phone in his trouser pocket was vibrating. Burst after burst, burst after bout.
It was a summer afternoon in June last year and the weather was slightly muggy. In a classroom at the Changzi Camp School in Daxing District, the air conditioner kept spewing cold air, and Song Ning was holding a textbook and teaching the sixth grade students of primary school.
On the phone screen is a series of landline numbers that begin with "010". Worried about an emergency, Song Ning put down her textbook and walked to the corridor outside the classroom to answer the phone.
On the other end of the phone is the staff of the Beijing branch of the China Bone Marrow Bank. She told Song Ning that his bone marrow had been successfully matched with a leukemia patient and asked him if he would like to donate hematopoietic stem cells.
Song Ning "giggled" in his heart, and his first reaction was surprise. That blood donation 11 years ago led him to eventually become a blood stem cell donor.
College students who donate blood
Song Ning is 173 cm tall, with a round head and a fat posture. At the age of 31, he is a science teacher in the primary school of the Camp Longyear school.
It was the summer of 2007. Song Ning, a college student who is still studying at the Beijing Institute of Architecture and Engineering, stepped onto a blood donation truck in Ditan Book Market and watched 400 milliliters of Yin Red's blood flow out of his body through a transparent hose.
What made Song Ning come up with the idea of donating blood was a classmate from his high school days. He befriended Song Ning, and after graduating from high school, he was accidentally diagnosed with acute leukemia. After several rounds of treatment, he later passed away.
"It's sad." Song Ning said. Classmate is the only son in the family, Song Ning once in the QQ space, saw his mother use his account to update the dynamics - "Son, I miss you." ”
After the blood donation, the staff asked Song Ning if he was willing to take a bone marrow backup. "I asked her if it was dry and numb, and she said that if paired with leukemia patients, she could save her life."
Song Ning remembered the deceased and felt that if he could save a person's life, it would be a good thing. He wrote down his name and address on the consent form, left his contact information and signed, and became a volunteer of the China Bone Marrow Bank.
For the next 11 years, the days flowed calmly. It wasn't until june 2018 that the sudden phone call got him tangled.
The husband who makes the decision
Song Ning did not immediately reply to the staff of the China Bone Marrow Bank. He needs to weigh it up.
Song Ning was born in 1987 in Huangcun Town, Daxing District. When my parents were young, they opened supermarkets and did small businesses. According to him, parents "are the kind of people who are particularly simple." I was taught from an early age that I can help people if I have the ability."
After graduating from university in 2009, Song Ning worked as an assistant village director for three years in Haido New Village, Huangcun Town, his hometown. Because her uncle and aunt are both teachers, Song Ning studied on her own to obtain a teacher's qualification certificate and taught at the Changzi Camp School in 2012.
Zhang Baoliang, vice principal of Changzi Camp School, has worked with Song Ning for many years. In his impression, Song Ning was meticulous and calm when lecturing, with a board and a glance, clear logic, and "the taste of an old teacher." Song Ning's wife, Guo Rui, said that her husband would consult with him when he encountered major events, but it was often he who made up his mind.
Nowadays, there are old and young people in the family. Guo Rui works as a full-time housewife at home, and Song Ning is the main source of income and the pillar of the family. Once the body has a bad pool, it will be a major blow to the family.
At the Camp Changzi School, Song Ning, a front-line teacher, teaches classes in the sixth grade and the first grade, with 16 class hours per week. "There are a total of 7 teachers in our group, one turnip and one pit, it is not good to take leave casually."
Both spouses' parents are also getting older. Song Ning worries that if he donates hematopoietic stem cells, it will increase the sorrow of his parents. And himself, although tobacco and alcohol do not stick, work and rest regularly, but there are hyperlipidemia, hypertension, hyperuricemia and other diseases.
This evening, Guo Rui, who was coaxing her child at home, received a call from her husband. After some communication, Song Ning made a decision: donate.
"If you don't know about her (the patient), forget it. But at that time, she may be born because of your decision, or she may die because of your decision. Song Ning said, "At this time, people are under pressure. ”
On this day, late at night, Song Ning called back to the Beijing branch of the China Bone Marrow Bank. The parents of both husband and wife are unaware of this.
Son-in-law of "Showdown"
The preparation process is quite lengthy. It was not until half a year later that Song Ning donated hematopoietic stem cells.
In July 2018, Song Ning took the subway alone to the Beijing branch of the China Bone Marrow Bank for high differentiation testing. 2 months later, he was informed that the high distribution with the leukemia patient was successful.
Chen Yuan (pseudonym), a staff member of the Beijing branch of the China Bone Marrow Bank, introduced that the matching probability of this non-blood hematopoietic stem cell is 4 million to 1 in 100,000. Chen Yuan has seen many such examples - there are donors who have successfully matched with more than a hundred leukemia patients for the first time, but at the high-scoring stage, they have not been able to match even one patient.
On December 5 last year, a leukemia patient paired with Song Ning was admitted to a sterile warehouse. In the sterile chamber, the patient is cleared of the pulp, the original unhealthy hematopoietic system is destroyed, waiting for healthy hematopoietic stem cells to enter the body. Chen Yuan introduced that the clearing of the pulp is an irreversible process, if the hematopoietic stem cells that are not transplanted are not waiting, the patient will be in danger of life.
Donations are imminent, and the 3-year-old son needs someone to take care of. Song Ning had no choice but to "show off" to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
It was dinner time, and the Song Ning family and their father-in-law and mother-in-law were eating around the table. Song Ning remembered that after hearing about this, his father-in-law and mother-in-law's hand hanging in mid-air fell into a long silence. After listening to Song Ning's explanation, although the old man still had concerns, he still agreed to donate.
"They asked me if I had decided, and I told them that it had no health impact and that there was no way back." Song Ning said, "I have not wavered, because I can't give people hope and disappoint. ”
Song Ning's parents only learned about this a few days ago. When the 56-year-old Mother Song saw the figure of her son and daughter-in-law on TV, her first reaction was surprise. "They were surprised, but didn't blame me. Just complained about such a big thing as me, didn't tell them in advance. ”
Teachers who donate stem cells
The day of donation arrived as scheduled.
On the morning of December 14, 2018, Chinese the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, Song Ning was lying flat on a bed in the hematopoietic stem cell collection room. Dozens of red, yellow, and blue strings of thousands of paper cranes hung low along the plain white walls to the head of the bed.
Song Ning's two upper arms were inserted with infusion hose needles. During the donation time of more than 4 hours, the blood in his body flowed out of the left arm hose, entered the blood cell separator, and then returned to the body through the right arm hose.
During the collection process, Song Ning must remain motionless. He clearly remembers that in the first hour, he did not feel anything; in the second hour, the sour numbness gradually invaded his arm; and in the later stage, this feeling became more and more intense, "My arm joints are stiff." ”
What ended up on the separator was a bag of 200 ml of hematopoietic stem cell suspension that was red and white. They were transported to another hospital that same day and into the body of the leukemia patient he was paired with.
Song Ning became the 7870th case in China, the 330th case in Beijing and the 3rd case in Daxing District to be a successful donor of unrelated hematopoietic stem cells.
Female, born in 1966, weighs 150 pounds. According to the principle of "mutual blindness" between the two parties, Song Ning did not know the name and place of origin of the leukemia patient, nor did he meet with him. He can only rely on this basic information, in his mind, to describe the general appearance of the patient.
The patient had brought him a thank-you note. The letter was written on two sheets of paper and folded in three equal parts. "Hello most beloved benefactor I don't know the name of." The patient wrote in the letter that after the diagnosis of leukemia, the sky collapsed, and it felt that death was close at hand. She sold her property for medical treatment and for a time "lost her thirst for life."
Song Ning has also been exposed to other leukemia patients. A while before the donation, he went to the hospital to wait for mobilization agents and blood tests, and once met a six- or seven-year-old boy with leukemia.
Boys are shorter than their peers, dark-faced, and sick. At breakfast, the nurse came to get an injection, and the boy did not hesitate to stretch out his arm, "feeling that he was numb to the injection".
The drug reaction came quickly. During the meal, the boy began to gagged and was reluctant to eat. His mother was anxious and said a few words to him. He was very obedient, holding a small spoon in his hand and forcing him to put rice in his mouth. ”
According to the staff of the Beijing branch of the China Bone Marrow Bank, at present, the number of volunteers in the Beijing branch is about 130,000, but this cannot meet the needs of a large number of leukemia patients for hematopoietic stem cells.
"The difficulty of working with hematopoietic stem cell donation is the problem of publicity and public acceptance. For patients, the survival rate of donated hematopoietic stem cells is not 100%, and it depends on the follow-up treatment. Follow-up treatment is self-funded. ”
On December 24 last year, Song Ning, who had been recuperating at home for a week, returned to school. On this day, he took three classes. A thank-you note from the patient and a small gift in a red paper bag were stored in a cabinet at home.
On January 4, 21 days after the donation, Song Ning told the Beijing News reporter that he did not deliberately strengthen exercise or supplement, "In addition to feeling a little weak, my body did not have much reaction." ”
Beijing News reporter Pan Wenbo Editor Zhang Tailing Proofreader Wei Zhuo