GAYVILLE When it came to helping his brother, Jason Selchert was willing to do a lot more than give the shirt off his back. In January, he became a bone marrow donor for his sibling, Jeff Selchert.

Jason, 39, superintendent of the Gayville-Volin School, said he had plenty of time to prepare for the procedure.

A little over two years ago, my brother, who is four years older than I am, was diagnosed with leukemia, he stated. When he was diagnosed, they determined that probably at some point in his illness, he was going to have to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Luckily enough, he has five siblings, and we were all tested. Two of the five were a match. I was one of the two.

Since the chance that a sibling will be a match is about one in four, the fact that two were a match was fortuitous, Jason said.

Jason and his oldest brother were both perfect matches, according to the blood and DNA testing.

However, Jason was selected as the best candidate.

After undergoing treatment following the initial diagnosis, Jeffs leukemia went into remission. But a few days prior to last Thanksgiving, the cancer had returned.

It was pretty well advanced, and they determined that the only way to treat it was going to be a transplant, Jason said. I had known for more than two years that it was maybe going to be an option. Its a pretty lengthy psychological process you go through to make sure that you are mentally stable enough to go through it, and understand what is going to happen and what could be the end result for me and my brother.

Jason donated his bone marrow stem cells Jan. 30. A successful transplant to his brother occurred the next day.

The worst part of the process was the time leading up to the donation, according to Jason. During the four previous days, he was given medication that caused his body to overproduce bone marrow stem cells. The process made Jason ache and feel nauseated, similar to the flu.

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Selchert Undergoes Transplant For Brother

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