4 Year Old Devan is Searching for a Marrow Match

I just found out about 4-year old Devan who has high-risk Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) a rare type of leukemia. Devan needs to receive a bone marrow transplant within 10 weeks.

Being 1/4 South Indian and 3/4 Northern European, Devan falls into the category of mixed ethnicities that is more challenging to match because for every patient in need, their best chance of locating a match is within their own ethnic group. If you are of two or more ethnicities it usually means needing to find a donor who shares the same ethnicities.

There is still no match for him in the global adult stem cell/bone marrow database. A provisional, partial cord blood match has been located for Devan but his best chance of a successful transplant is to locate a 10/10 match. A partial match can be successful but the odds are not as good as with a full leukocyte match.

If you are of South Indian descent and especially if you are of Indian and Caucasian descent please consider joining the marrow registry in the hopes that you will be Devan's match. You can learn about the two donation methods by CLICKING HERE.

Visit Devan's Website by CLICKING HERE

Joining the registry is just a registration form and 4 cotton mouth swabs that you rub on the inside of your cheeks.

Devan is just one of thousands of sick patients searching for a marrow match so that they can have a chance at having a future. Of the approximately 6000 Americans searching for a match each day because they are suffering from blood cancers like Leukemia and other blood conditions like Aplastic and Sickle Cell Anemia, 70% will not find a match in time. You can help. You might be a match. You might be able to help save a life.

Please CLICK HERE to locate an in-person marrow drive using your zip code

Please CLICK HERE to order a mail-back test kit that will be sent to your home

Shaquille O’Neal Supports Be The Match

Read about Taylor on the Mid Dekalb news website by CLICKING HERE

Press Release from Be the Match:

Shaquille O’Neal has teamed up with Be The Match to challenge Americans to “Be the one to save a life.” Starting today, three public service announcements will hit the airwaves and the Internet to help the thousands of patients like Taylor John who need a marrow transplant.

Unlike most 15-year-old girls, Taylor isn’t eagerly anticipating her 16th birthday. She has severe sickle cell anemia and a marrow transplant is her best hope for a cure. But there is no matching donor in her family or currently on the Be The Match Registry. And because of the progression of the disease, doctors say Taylor may run out of time if a match isn’t found before her 16th birthday, which is this August.

Taylor and thousands of other patients are counting on the Be The Match Registry, whose 8 million volunteer members stand ready to become marrow donors. While many patients do find the life-saving match they need each year, more donors are needed, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse communities.

You can be the one who helps save a life. Take the first step by joining online at BeTheMatch.org.

African Descent Marrow Donor Urgently Needed to Save Zyreal

I'm begging here. If you are of African descent (No matter what continent you live on) and if you are not in a National Marrow Donor Program PLEASE consider joining to help save Zyreal. Also please forward this message to anyone you know who might be able to help him.

Zyreal is an adopted 7 year old boy who suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia. He recently underwent a cord blood (stem cell) transplant to save his life but today his family found out the transplant failed. This means he is now left with no working bone marrow. His body cannot produce new blood cells or platelets so for the time being he will have to rely on transfusions to buy him more time. A better match must be found ASAP if Zyreal is going to survive.

Ethnicity is crucial. Any patient in need of a marrow transplant will most likely find a match within their own ethnic group so Zyreal needs more people of African descent to join the marrow donor program in case they are the one who is going to be able to save his life.

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IN THE UNITED STATES

If you live in the United States please go to Be the Match and enter your zip code to locate a live drive in your area:

http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_in_Person/index.html

It takes 4 cotton swabs that you wipe on the inside of your cheeks to find out if you are the match that can help Zyreal. It can then take up to 10 weeks for the test to be processed. Zyreal cannot wait so please do not delay in locating a drive.

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ALL OTHER COUNTRIES

There is also a list of international marrow programs at this link:

http://helpingtami.org/asian_stem_cell_transplant_int_marrow_programs.html

Please contact a program near you to locate a live drive. In most countries testing is simply swiping the inside of your cheeks with 4 cotton swabs. It can then take up to 10 weeks for the test to be processed. Zyreal cannot wait so please do not delay in locating a drive.

Chinese and Asian Americans Please Help Me to Help Janet Liang

People this is the real deal. Twenty two year old Janet Liang is a patient in critical need. She was diagnosed just months ago with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (bi-phenotypic).

This is Janet's desperate truth, her plea to help her save her own life that I read last night in her most recent blog post. Many of the people who she thought would reach out to help her have not:

"I became distraught because an urgent email was sent from a coordinator at Asian Miracle Matches to 70 of my closest friends in Southern California that I was willing to burden. Only 2 of them replied. No, I’m not popular at all."

I am hoping that all of you will reach out to help her. There is something you can do. You can join the registry or if you already have I implore you to reach out to anyone you know who is of any Asian ethnicity (particularly if they are Chinese) and ask them if they have joined the registry.

Janet's match could be anyone you know and of any Aisan ethnicity whether they are a friend, family or extended family member, a colleague, neighbor, or anyone you might happen to meet in your day to day life. The base requirements are that they are 18-60 years of age and in good health.

If they say they are not in the registry please direct them to any of the following websites to learn more about the pain free registration process and the donation process that is not, contrary to popular beliefs, excruciatingly painful. Most people who donate their marrow or stem cells suffer from relatively little discomfort if any at all. Nausea and a bruised sensation is usually the worst of it. They can learn more about the donation process on theHelpingTami.org website by CLICKING HERE.

They can also learn where live drives are held nationwide or how to order a home test kit at:

Live Drives Nationwide Using their Zip Code Locater
The National Marrow Donor Program website: www.BeTheMatch.org

Southern California Live Drives
Asians for Miracle Matches website: www.AsianMarrow.org

Northern California Drives
Asian American Donor Program website: www.AADP.org

More words from Janet:

"There’s an overwhelming amount of guilt I feel and frustration, because all I can do is keep asking and begging. That’s all I’m good for these days with no guaranteed promise of the ability to return your favors. I also understand that many of you have fruitful, promising lives/futures and are extremely busy. All I can really tell you is that I have about 3-4 months time to come up with some kind of bone marrow donor match. That is nearly impossible. The pressure is on, as my doctors and bone marrow transplant coordinator continuously remind me of the time-sensitive nature of treating this disease. If not, they’ll continue to drag it on and on, keeping me alive with one chemo round after another until I become resistant to it and there’s no other alternative except an umbilical cord transplant, which will buy more time and is currently in the research/experimental stages."