Category: Featured, Highlights, Life & Society Topics: Health, Ramadan Values: Charity, Compassion, Integrity Views: 743
743
#SwabForSawab
Please join our fight!
" ... whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity." Quran 5:32
SWAB FOR SAWAB is a worldwide call to action on Friday, May 31st from 9:00 PM to 12:15 AM across the United States and United Kingdom to enroll as many people as possible from all backgrounds in the bone marrow & stem cell registry. Over the past few months, a handful of young members of our community (scroll down to learn more about them) were diagnosed with aggressive forms of leukemia and other illnesses that require bone marrow or stem cell transplants. Unfortunately, none of them matched with members of their families or any of the other 20 million people in the registry.
- Bone marrow or blood stem cell donation is not organ donation. Bone marrow, regenerates, so a donor is not giving away a part of themselves.
- As a donor, you are only called to donate when you are a matched to a patient based on the DNA sample provided during registration. For these patients, many times a bone marrow transplant is the only treatment that will give them a second chance to live.
- We don’t store bone marrow. We do store the information from the cheek swabs and that is done through a secured donor identification number that conceals donor identity. No third party has any access to your personal identification information such as name, DOB, address etc.
- DKMS is HIPPA compliant; we do not and cannot sell your personal identity or health information.
- There are strict medical guidelines put in place to ensure the safety of the donor. A thorough medical history and exam makes sure that it’s safe for you to donate.
- Financial costs are covered by DKMS. This includes the medical procedures and travel cuts for you and a guest. And if it’s needed, costs after donation.
What does it mean to be on the registry? It means that someone has taken a step forward to help a patient who is suffering from a blood cancer or blood disorder. Once a person has swabbed their cheeks and returned the kit, the swabs are sent to a medical lab where it is tested for HLA typing profile. Because it’s so hard to be a match, there is a 1% chance you will be called.
If you’re fortunate enough to be in that 1%, you would go through a series of health screenings to ensure the donation will not pose any health risks to you or the patient. Once that is confirmed, you would go to a partner transplant center for the donation. DKMS team member will be with you every step of the way guiding you through the process and addressing your concerns.
LIYNA
Liyna is a 29 year old journalist from Los Angeles who is fighting an aggressive leukemia since December 2018. Liyna continues to receive chemotherapy as an outpatient with frequent doctor's appointments throughout the week. While she is showing progress, the chemotherapy will only keep her leukemia at bay for so long as it will eventually begin to lose its effectiveness. Because of that, a blood stem cell transplant remains her best chance of a cure and now, time is of the essence. We haven't found a perfect match for Liyna yet, but there is still a chance for people to join the donor pool and potentially help Liyna or someone else in desperate need of a transplant.
ARHAM
Arham is 6 months old and was diagnosed with two forms of leukemia when he was just three months old, ALL and AML. Since the diagnosis, Arham has endured complications from chemo therapy including cardiac arrest and has been in and out of ICU. Sadly, he has no matching donors in the database and does not have any siblings. To make matters that much desperate, Arham‘s mother almost died during childbirth which resulted in her being unable to birth any more children in the future. Doctors working on Arham’s case would like to move him to transplant as soon as possible. He is currently being treated at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX. Arham is of South Asian descent. Both of his parents descend from Pakistan.
ALESHA
2 years old , Alesha Kajani, is in need of a bone marrow transplant. She was diagnosed with bone marrow failure at just 12 months old. Alesha does not have siblings and relies on an unrelated donor to give her a second chance at life. Her parents struggled to get pregnant for 8 years. Alesha has undergone many tests, gets poked quite often and receives platelet transfusions at least twice a week. Her white cells and platelets count are critically low, causing her to stay indoors. Before her diagnosis, she was constantly getting sick but always stayed very calm and patient.
ROSMIN
Rosmin is 54 years old and from Atlanta, Georgia. She was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which is a considered a cancer that occurs when the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow become abnormal. This leads to low numbers of one or more types of blood cells. A bone marrow transplant is the only cure for this type of cancer. Currently, there is no matching family members. Because of Rosmin’s south asian ethnicity, her chance of finding a lifesaver is even harder. You could be the one to give Rosmin a second chance!
( PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION AT DKMS)
About DKMS
DKMS is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders by: creating awareness, recruiting bone marrow donors to provide a second chance at life, raising funds to match donor registration costs, supporting the improvement of therapies through research, and supporting patients from day one of their diagnoses.
Category: Featured, Highlights, Life & Society
Topics: Health, Ramadan Values: Charity, Compassion, Integrity
Views: 743
Topics: Health, Ramadan Values: Charity, Compassion, Integrity
Views: 743
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