Three years after she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, state trooper Renee Padgett of Renton has a one-in-a-million chance of beating the rare cancer of the blood.
That’s the odds of finding a matching stem-cell donor whose own stem cells will kill and then replace and rebuild Padgett’s bone marrow. Before that, she must undergo a transplant using her own stem sells and that will only happen if a donor is found first.
It’s her last option, following years of radiation treatments and chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant in 2013 using her stem cells. A return of the cancer is common 24 to 36 months after such a procedure.
Tests in January confirmed her cancer had returned and was more aggressive than before. Her kidneys cannot withstand continuing chemotherapy.
“Time is of the essence,” Padgett said.
That is why on Friday, Aug. 7, in Olympia and again on Tuesday, Aug. 11, in Bellevue, friends and supporters will host drives to register people for the national bone-marrow registry in an effort to help Padgett find a donor but also to help everyone else in need of a life-saving, stem-cell transplant.
The event in Olympia also will include a blood drive for Bloodworks Northwest (formerly the Puget Sound Blood Center), which is in continuous need of blood and blood products. Padgett has required numerous blood tranfusions.
Padgett is a 24-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol, inspecting wrecking yards as part of her duties in the patrol’s Commercial Vehicle Division.
Through her efforts, an innovative program called Homeward Bound was started in 2005, designed to help locate and bring home some of the approximately 23,000 children who are reported missing in the state each year.
Homeward Bound – she calls it her “baby” – continues in partnership with Gordon Trucking of Pacific.
The cancer was discovered in May 2012 when doctors found a tumor on her spine that had caused four discs to collapse on top of each other. Such bone compression is one of the symptoms of the cancer.
Surgery corrected her spine and stopped the pain but she continued to fight the cancer.
Padgett lives in Renton with her two children, a 13-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter.
Two years ago, Padgett returned to work part-time with the state patrol, her cancer in remission after a transplant using her own stem cells. During that time, she organized a school bus-safety campaign with the Maple Valley Police Department, the King County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
She was two weeks away from returning to duty full-time when the tests showed the cancer had returned.
HOW TO HELP
Here are ways to help Renee Padgett and others who need a life-saving, bone-marrow transplant.
• Friday, Aug. 7, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Olympia. Blood Donation and Bone Marrow Registration Drive, General Administration Building auditorium, 210 11th Ave. S.W., Olympia, on the Capitol campus.
• Tuesday, Aug. 11, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Bellevue. Bone Marrow Registration Drive, conference room, Washington State Patrol district headquarters, 2803 156th Ave. S.E., Bellevue. Call Tanya Nobles, 425-785-1840, donor recruitment representative, with any questions.
Participants ages 18 to 44 at both events will be swabbed for the National Bone Marrow Registry.
• Sign up online: Information about how to sign up for the bone-marrow registry through Bloodworks Northwest is available online at www.bloodworksnw.org/programs/marrow.htm. Information is also available about blood-donation drives and how to sign up.
• GoFundMe: A fund-raising drive us under way to help Padgett pay for medical costs not covered by health insurance, including a weeks-long stay at Pete Gross House in Seattle after a transplant. www.gofundme.com/SaveReneePadgett
• Follow Renee’s story on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SayItFightItCureItSaveReneePadgett
This story has been updated.
