A few years ago Elliot Steinberg spent his weekends competing in rugged 60-mile bike races. Now he can barely walk a block.
Steinberg, 55, suffers from myodisplasia syndrome, a disorder in which the body fails to produce enough red blood cells. Symptoms include weakness, fatigue, infection and weight loss. Over the past 12 months, Steinberg has received more than 50 blood transfusions.
His best treatment option is a bone marrow transplant. Without it, he may develop a lethal form of leukemia. Though the odds of finding the perfect bone marrow donor are steep, Steinberg prefers to think positively. In fact, he’s adopted a new mantra: “Failure is not an option.”
That’s why the Martinez resident has teamed up with the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center and Gift of Life for a bone marrow donor drive, set for Sunday, Sept. 25, at the JCC in Walnut Creek. Participants who undergo a simple mouth swab test will be added to the Gift of Life national registry of potential donors.
(A bone marrow donor drive will also be held at To Life! A Jewish Cultural Street Festival in Palo Alto from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18.)
Organizers hope for a good turnout of Ashkenazi Jews. It is only from that gene pool that Steinberg will find someone who would match all 10 critical genetic markers.
Steinberg is looking for a perfect 10.
“If I don’t find a donor,” he says, “I’ll be lucky to make it to 60. This simple act of getting into the registry and donating the marrow, whether to me or somebody else, could be the greatest mitzvah. I know ‘karma’ isn’t the right word, but what goes around comes around.”
Steinberg grew up attending Vallejo’s Congregation B’Nai Israel, where he became bar mitzvah, married and saw his own children become b’nai mitzvah. An accountant, he rose high in the ranks at Chevron, working as a data analyst at the company’s Richmond office.
He traveled the world and lived a very full life. He and his wife, Carolyn, a manager at Kaiser Permanente, raised two children, both now grown.
But his active lifestyle came to a screeching halt as his disorder began impacting his health. “I had so many biopsies,” he says, “it felt like a weight-loss program.”
One positive outcome of his illness has been Steinberg’s return to Judaism and B’nai Israel.
“I had questions for Rabbi [David] White concerning life and death,” he says. “Judaism is a thinking person’s religion. Everything is discussed and over-discussed, but you’re allowed to come to some of your own conclusions.”
Steinberg has participated in other bone marrow donor drives. He had a couple of close calls — some donors matched four of the 10 markers — but so far, no jackpot. His two brothers readily offered their own marrow but that turned out to be a near miss as well. “They matched each other 10 for 10,” he says. “Talk about odd man out.”
The ordeal has caused him to ponder anew the cruelties of history. “The descendants of six million possible donors will never exist,” he says with some bitterness. “My perfect donor may not have been born because of the Holocaust.”
Still, Steinberg tries to keep up his spirits. Though retired, he keeps as active as possible, indulging his more sedate hobbies of fishing, stamp collecting and ham radio. He is also planning a vacation to Washington, D.C., the fabled streets of which he can tour on his motorized cart.
And as the Walnut Creek donor drive comes and goes, Steinberg waits and hopes. “I’m psychologically prepared that I may only have a few years and, damn it, I’m going to live them.”
Then he adds, “Only another Jew can save me.”
The bone marrow donor drive takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, at the Contra Costa JCC, 2071 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. Information: (925) 938-7800.