This article was originally published in the October 2023 edition of Héma-Québec’s Magazine. All issues of the Magazine are available here.

Mylène, stem cell donor

Donating hope

In 2009, Mylène Arsenault had just finished her master’s degree and was working as a speech language pathologist at Hôpital de La Baie in Saguenay. Checking an online forum she frequented to stay up to date in her field of practice, she read a story from a colleague about how a member of their family needed a stem cell donation.

Her curiosity was piqued! She decided to read up on stem cells and learned about how these blood cells can turn into red or white blood cells or platelets and, once transplanted, can cure serious illnesses, like certain cancers of the blood.

Mylène regularly gave blood already and said to herself, why not stem cells? If the opportunity one day presented itself, she might be able to save someone’s life. So she sent her samples in to Héma-Québec and put herself on the register. “I wanted to save the world!”

As the years went by, Mylène didn’t give much thought to the donation registry or stem cells. She continued giving blood, gave birth to four children, donated her breast milk to HémaQuébec’s public bank–and life went on like normal. Another child, another job, another decade, now a pandemic.  

The call

Then, in 2021, Mylène got a call from Héma-Québec. “Do you remember signing up for the stem cell registry 12 years ago, Ms. Arsenault?” Yes, she remembered, and was astounded to learn that her genetic profile appeared compatible with a patient somewhere in the world who needed a stem cell transplant to live.

Héma-Québec explained the process to Mylène and had her answer a health survey and redo her compatibility tests, as there were a few other potential donors, all doing the same thing. Then she got the second call, letting her know that she had the highest compatibility with the recipient. Mylène made her decision and agreed to donate her stem cells. She chose the apheresis method, which is similar to plasma donation. A machine would take her blood, isolate her stem cells, and then reinject the rest of her blood. She would need to take drugs before donating that would increase the amount of stem cells in her blood, as they are usually found in the bone marrow.

She needed to be careful not to fall ill to make sure she didn’t pass anything on to the person receiving her stem cells, who would be very vulnerable. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, dealing with four children and working in health care and as a substitute teacher, it was a challenge to say the least!  

But everything was going well, and Mylène felt strongly supported by her family and the HémaQuébec team. In December 2021, on the weekend of her 40^th birthday, she went through with the donation in Québec City. 

What comes after

In general, everyone who learns about Mylène’s stem cell donation wants to know the same thing: “Did it work? Did you meet the person you helped? How are they doing?”

The short answer to all of this is there’s no way of knowing. The long answer, as always, is a bit more nuanced. After a year, both parties can agree to waive the requirement for anonymity. If they both choose to do so, they can contact each other. At least, that’s how such donations work in Québec. After one year, however, Mylène learned that the person who had received her stem cells was from a country that did not allow donors and recipients of stem cell donations to waive their anonymity. Mylène will never know who she helped or how the transplant went.

That doesn’t mean you should assume she’s disappointed, though. Mylène is an eternal optimist!

“I’m not disappointed,” she explains calmly. “It’s a donation, you don’t do it expecting something in return. In any case, I really felt the gratitude from the people in my life. I made my donation, and I know that at minimum I gave hope to someone who was fearing for their life. But beyond that, I don’t know. It’s not a big deal. I can’t get enough of stories about other people’s recoveries, even though I don’t actually know how our story ended up.”

Overall, she still has a very positive view of the experience. “Getting to make a stem cell donation is an incredible opportunity. It’s something you really grow from. You can talk about it with your kids, and it’s the ultimate conversation starter. And after all, wouldn’t we all want someone to do this for us or our kids if we needed it?”