Radio-television-film junior Josh Talbot has three loves: his iridescent blue ‘86 Ford Mustang, computer animation and wakeboarding on Lake Travis. But when a seemingly routine case of mononucleosis evolved into what doctors called “mono gone wild,” Talbot added another interest to that list: staying alive.
Talbot was diagnosed with mononucleosis Wednesday, Sept. 3, the day after his 21st birthday. By that Saturday, his relatively common infection had escalated to the point that taking a sip of soup was unbearable. While describing his symptoms to a doctor at the Seton Northwest Hospital, Talbot collapsed into septic shock.
“All of his organs failed. He would have died in his sleep Saturday night if his mom hadn’t taken him in to the hospital,” said Talbot’s cousin Leighton Dellinger, a finance senior at UT.
After four harrowing days on full life support, Talbot’s doctors discovered the microscopic culprit of his unexpected crash. A rare autoimmune disorder was causing some of his white blood cells to destroy his platelets — without which Talbot could easily bleed to death.
For the past 72 days, Talbot has been fighting to survive in the intensive care units of Seton Northwest Hospital in Austin and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He receives white blood cell and platelet transfusions almost daily. He has already used up all the platelet reserves in Central Texas, so reserves have to be flown in daily from Florida to keep him stable.
“His miracle factor is 10 times what it was two months ago,” Dellinger said. “The fact that he is still alive and still stable is just amazing.”
Pam Spann, a friend of the Talbot family, organized a massive volunteer effort in Houston to donate blood, which has garnered overwhelming support. As a result, Talbot has received six white blood cell transfusions to which he has responded unusually well, Spann said.
“Visiting Josh is really reassuring. There’s more life in him than most people would think,” said Talbot’s roommate Teajay Pierce, a Navy ROTC junior. “He’s very reactive to your voice and when you hold his hand.”
Talbot’s doctors say the best cure for his rare disease is a bone marrow transfusion. This procedure is especially tricky because finding a match is difficult; the donor’s and the patient’s DNA have to be extremely similar, Spann said. The nationwide bone marrow registry has 11 million possible donors, but 6,000 patients are still looking for a match.
Spann and Dellinger will work with volunteers from the UT community to register students as bone marrow donors Dec. 1 through Dec. 5 at the Flawn Academic Center. The registration process takes about 10 minutes and is needle-free. Prospective donors fill out an information sheet, get their cheek swabbed and “pick up a lollipop on their way out,” Spann said.
"My goal is to get the is to get the most number of people ever registered on a college campus,” Spann said. “I’m hoping that Josh will have a match with one of his siblings, and the drive will have nothing to do with him, but it may save hundreds of other people.”
To actually donate bone marrow is a two-step process. Eighty percent of donors only need to donate stem cells, which are siphoned out of the blood through a method similar to donating plasma. The other 20 percent are put under general anesthetic, and bone marrow is taken from the hip through a needle.
“The chances that you are ever going to get called to donate are relatively small,” Spann said. “But if you’re the only person who can save that life and you don’t register, that life can’t be saved.”
The team’s goal is to register more than 1,000 new donors during the five-day drive.
“On average, one out of every 200 donors is a match for someone, so we can shoot to save five lives, which would be phenomenal,” Dellinger said.
The Talbot family has received support from people throughout the state, according to a blog that posts updates on Talbot’s condition for his friends and family. Donations of blood, time and money have poured in through Spann’s coordination efforts.
While Talbot’s shiny blue Mustang may collect a bit of dust in the garage, those close to him are hopeful that it will soon get another tune-up from its owner.
“It’s reassuring to know that Josh is still in there and is still fighting,” Pierce said. “He’s gonna get better. I know he’s gonna get better.”
