When Payton was a first-year medical student at the University of Florida Medical School, she attended an exceptionally interesting meeting of the Oncology Interest Group. One of her fellow students explained the need for blood stem cell and marrow donors and offered them the chance to join Gift of Life’s registry.
“It sounded like a great opportunity to help someone,” said Payton. “Minorities are underrepresented in the registry, and, because you are more likely to match someone of the same ethnicity and race, many patients in need of a transplant have a more difficult time finding a stem cell match. I saw this as one small way I could help alleviate this disparity.”
Just over two years later, Payton learned she was a match for a man in his early 30s who had been diagnosed with leukemia and whose best chance of recovery was a stem cell donation.
“I was very excited and had no doubt I would find a way to make it work,” said Payton. “The timing was incredible, the match came when I had a lighter class schedule, which allowed me the flexibility to donate without ever missing a day of classes.”
Her parents and friends were excited for her and asked a lot of questions, giving her the chance to share what she had learned about the process – and the potential benefits for the recipient – with others.
Before getting the green light to proceed with donation, all Gift of Life donors are given a thorough medical examination by a doctor, and then for five days before donation, they receive injections of filgrastim to help stimulate the marrow to produce more stem cells. Donors do not pay for the medical exam, travel, or hotel accommodations; these are all arranged and paid for by Gift of Life.
“I had excellent care, and I felt like a celebrity!” said Payton. “The injections themselves made me sore, but there were no lasting effects. Everything was coordinated for me, so it was very seamless. During the donation, I watched Netflix, took a nap, called friends, and ate lots of snacks. I felt back to normal after a good night’s sleep and went on vacation soon after donating.”
Payton hopes to meet her recipient someday but does not want him to feel that he owes her a thing; she is content knowing she did the right thing.
She is also highly aware of the need for Black donors to join the registry, as the tissue type variations needed to match donors and recipients are population-specific. Since we inherit these variations from our parents and ancestors, people tend to match with those of the same ethnicity.
“For African American populations, there has been a general mistrust of health care systems dating back to the Tuskegee experiment,” said Payton. “While I don’t expect this to change overnight, medicine has come a long way since then. If we continue to distance ourselves, we won’t progress. All populations must be represented in medicine so that all people can benefit. I hope that as a Black woman in medicine going through this process, it shows others that this procedure is beneficial for everyone. If at least one person decides to sign up or donate stem cells after seeing this, then I have achieved my goal.”
Payton, 27, will graduate from the University of Florida Medical School in 2025. Her undergraduate degree in Chemistry is also from UF. In her free time, she enjoys running, weightlifting, painting, and traveling.
