Jeff Bartlett is a proud union man. For decades, Bartlett worked in the trades, everything from carpentry to working as a millwright at the Ford engine plant in Lima, Ohio. “I repaired the equipment they used to build the engines,” Bartlett said.
Even after being diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a blood cancer that affects the bone marrow, Bartlett was still clocking in. “I’d work 40-70 hours a week at the engine plant,” he said, “depending on production demands.”
Eventually, the fatigue from the MDS took over, and Bartlett retired. However, that left him with more time to enjoy his hobbies, like vegetable gardening and stained glass art. Sometimes, he’ll marry his interests, like when his wife requested a small window piece for the garden. “I made a stained glass of hibiscus flowers—clear, reddish-orangish white glass, greens,” he said. “When the light hits it, the glass does what I consider magical transformations.”
Like the light on his beautiful stained glass art, Bartlett has gone through some transformations himself. It all started when he went in for his yearly physical. “My [primary care doctor] noticed blotches on my legs,” Bartlett said. “They did some blood work, and that’s when the MDS was discovered. The only symptom was the blotches.”
To confirm his doctor’s suspicions, Bartlett went to the hospital and received a bone marrow biopsy, which they drilled into his pelvis to take a sample. The biopsy was conclusive—he had MDS. “At first, [the doctors] said, you know, ‘we’ll let it ride, but we’re going to observe it’.”
If you were to look up what MDS was online, you’d get a long and complicated answer. But Bartlett knows firsthand. “MDS affects the bone marrow’s ability to produce good [blood] cells, red or white,” he said. “In my case, it was mostly white blood cells.”
Because of all the treatments, as well as the MDS itself, Bartlett was hospitalized several times with infections. “The bone marrow was putting out underdeveloped white blood cells into my bloodstream,” he said. “That’s what made me vulnerable to infections.”
Eventually, the doctors decided that Bartlett needed to stay at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute The James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, where he’d received an intense round of chemo for six days straight. To give the most effective treatment, the doctor placed a central venous catheter (CVC) in his chest.
“They began administering what I can only describe as a poison intended to kill my bone marrow and white blood cells,” Bartlett said. “I joked with my doctor, asking if they were trying to kill me, and she responded, ‘We’re going to take you within just one dose of killing you.’”
The chemo certainly hit the proverbial target, striking quite a blow to Bartlett’s MDS. However, there was just one more arrow in the quiver—a bone marrow transplant. While there were no suitable donors in his family, Bartlett did indeed find someone.
“My donor was from Germany,” Bartlett said. “A guy flew in with the marrow—my wife saw him come in with the cooler. That was the beginning of my second birthday.”
You may be wondering what Bartlett means by “second birthday.” Well, after several rounds of intensive chemo, he had less immunity than a baby. After his bone marrow transplant, Bartlett was essentially given a new immune system.
“I had my second set of what they call baby shots—polio, hepatitis—all of it,” he said. “Today, I’m 472 days old.”
Except, it wasn’t just the chemo and bone marrow transplant that helped Bartlett go into remission. He also received quite a few blood and platelet transfusions. One of the side effects of MDS is low hemoglobin levels, which can cause anemia. As a result, MDS patients often fatigue easily and can sometimes experience heart stress or cognitive issues due to the reduced oxygen.
“Anytime my hemoglobin was at eight or lower,” Bartlett said, “they’d give me a blood transfusion to boost it. I could feel an energy boost right after.”
After Bartlett’s bone marrow transplant, blood transfusions were a part of his recovery. “From the transplant until this past winter—so, over a year—I received regular transfusions. I think my last one was three or four months ago.”
Not only did he receive red blood cell transfusions, but also immune globulin infusions. Immune globulin contains plasma and antibodies from thousands of donors. When you consider that only 5% of the population donates blood, that’s quite the number. Jeff Bartlett probably knows better than most, and he’s nothing short of grateful.
“What [blood donors] are doing has unbelievable positive consequences in the world,” he said. “I don’t know where I’d be without them.”
With his health on the mend, Bartlett is making the most of it. He’s tending the garden, honing those stained glass skills, and, most importantly, spending time with family.
“It’d be great to see my grandchildren graduate from high school,” Bartlett said. “Before all this, we lived life—and we’re starting to do that again.”
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