Donor Drive Aims to Find Bone Marrow Match for Montville Dad

Montville resident Dan Dotterweich hopes someone who signs up to be a bone marrow donor at the Towaco firehouse next Sunday will be his perfect match.

The 46-year-old father of three is battling a rare form of blood cancer and needs a bone marrow transfusion in September.

While doctors are weighing whether he has a better chance of receiving a successful transfusion from a sibling who's a "half match" or a donor from a registry who's a "9 out of 10" match, it will be safer if they find a donor who's a "10 out of 10," he said.

"I have many, many, many things to look forward to which is why I'm trying to find a perfect match as far as a donor goes," Dotterweich said Tuesday.

The drive is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 14, at the Towaco Fire Department, 27 White Hall Road, Towaco. Those who sign up have their cheeks swabbed and are added to a registry of potential donors.

Dotterweich said the chances of the drive finding a match for him are "very, very slim," but increasing the number of people registered always can help save lives.

There will be music and food at the drive, and T-shirts and bracelets will be on sale to help raise money to cover the costs of processing donor registration kits.

Those who register do not have to pay anything, but organizers plan to raise money to help cover the $65 cost of processing the kits. The drive is being run by Delete Blood Cancer DKMS, a bone marrow donor center.

Ellen Dotterweich said they're hoping the number of people who turn out for the drive is "as many as possible."

She is helping organize the drive along with a family friend who lives in Montville and knows firsthand what it's like to donate bone marrow.

LoriAnn Pesci signed up to be a bone marrow donor at a donor drive, and, a few years later, ended up being a match for someone who needed a transplant. Her donation saved the man's life.

The donation process involved getting a physical, a series of shots to boost stem cell production, and then a procedure similar to giving blood. Another method involves the donor being put under during the donation procedure, and then receiving painkillers to avoid discomfort, she said.

Dan Dotterweich was diagnosed with plasma cell leukemia, a rare form of multiple myeloma, in January. His diagnosis came after a blood test that was part of a yearly physical showed his blood counts were off. He didn't have any symptoms.

"I was completely shocked," he said.

He has since undergone chemotherapy treatments and a stem cell transfusion using his own stem cells.

The cancer is expected to come back stronger, and his best chance of fighting the disease is getting a new immune system from the September bone marrow transfusion.

The bone marrow transfusion has risks associated with it, including the possibility of graft-versus-host disease.

Dotterweich, who has lived in Montville since he was 2 and owns a company in Towaco, "Q" Glass Co., that creates glass instruments for science labs, says he has been working shorter days since returning to work. He plans to take his two oldest children to college in August before undergoing the bone marrow transfusion. His youngest daughter is entering seventh grade at Lazar Middle School.

Dotterweich, a Montville Township High School graduate, loves to travel, boat, and have fun, so "sitting in the hospital, not around people absolutely killed me," he said.

Pesci said Dotterweich, who has coached youth sports teams in town, is someone who "will do whatever he can to help you."

"They're just really good people," she said of the family.

And if someone who registers is a match?

"You get the best gift," Pesci said. "How many people get to save a life?"

The bone marrow donor drive by Delete Blood Cancer DKMS is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 14, at the Towaco Fire Department, 27 White Hall Road, Towaco.