Luann Magolan, of Oregon Township (left), gave her sister Chris Gepfrey Dahlke, 14 million cells to save her life from a rare form of cancer.

Luann Magolan, of Oregon Township, gave her sister Chris Gepfrey Dahlke, 14 million cells to save her life from a rare form of cancer. Multiple myeloma affects the plasma cells in the bone marrow and is destroying her bones.

"It's not like before, the bone marrow transplants," Magolan said. "I want people to know how far they've come, how easily they can save a life now."

The nine children of Wil and Pat Gepfrey grew up in Elba Township. Chris graduated from Lapeer High School. She met Craig Dahlke while in college. They are married and have two children. The nine siblings are now adults, all but one have married and two live out of state. Yet their family ties and love for each other remain.

Doctors told them the cancer is incurable, but treatable. Chris' family fought back with support, care and fund raising -- yet each day she got sicker.

"It was determined that she needed a stem cell transplant," Magolan said. "Blood stem cells are produced in your bone marrow. The cancer took over those stem cells and they broke apart. The marrow can't produce and you get weak bones."

Doctors told the family Chris had better odds than most to find a match; there were eight brothers and sisters to chose from. Six drove together to Ann Arbor for the test. The two sisters in Georgia were tested in their state with results sent to Michigan.

"Each one of us wanted to be the match to save Chris," Magolan said. "She's the one that holds us together. It was two weeks later, and I was at work, when mom called. I was a 10 out of 10 match, Pam was 9 out of 10. We found out later that Dennis was also a 10 out of 10, but he had already planned a neck surgery that he'd have to postpone."

On May 23, four day before the transplant, Magolan had to inject her self four times a day in the stomach area with nuporgen shots.

"They produce white blood cells and make the stem cell burst out of your bone and into your blood stream," Magolan said. "I felt like I had the flu, and on the last day I had a bad headache."

On transplant day, tests showed Magolan's white blood cell count had risen from a normal five to 10 to 77. They hooked her up to a machine in one arm and in the other hand. The process took about four hours.

"It recirculates all the blood in your body three times and spins and separates it," she said. "Once bag has stem cells in it and the other plasma cells. After it's done, they unhook you and send the bag to Chris."

The entire family waited as Chris received her sister's cells. It took only 10 minutes.

As she heals, Chris and her husband Craig live in Ann Arbor to be near the hospital. With the cells of her sister inside her, Chris grows stronger each day.

"They told me your sibling is your best chance to find a match, and they all wanted to do this for me," said Chris. "I would do the same for them."

A scrambles golf tournament is planned for Friday, July 18 at Rolling Hills Golf Course to benefit Chris. Registration is 7:30 a.m. with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Cost is $70 per person; $280 a team. Ray C's is donating an RV, watercraft or motorcycle to the first person to shoot a hole-in-one, said Mike Gepfrey. For information or to register, call (810) 459-2566.