Please help out in anyway you can.
Regards,
Lung Zhi
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Erin Lu wrote:
Hi All,
Most of you already knew that Kristen's cancer return again. Her Doctor wanted to do donor stem cell transplant. As you know, Kristen is 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 Chinese. This makes her finding matching donor more challenging.
Her guardian angel, Mrs.Karen Johnson, made three posters, tried to get people to joint marrow registry finding Kristen's a matching donor. Attached are three Kristen stem cell drive posters. " Be a Hero" is file of an introduction of bone marrow or stem cell transplant and the procedure to joint the marrow registry. "Neuqua Valley Drive poster" is the poster that Neuqua High school will be a donor registry drive on Jan. 17th. Neuqua is the high school Kristen graduated from. "Kristen's story" is the story telling about Kristen's cancer treatment journey. She also set up a kristen capawan fund. This fund is helping with stem cell testing cost.
Karen would like me to pass on all the people I know. I would apprecaite it if you can also pass these posters to you kids who are in high schools or colleges. Thank you for your help!!
Erin Lu
Ekla Corporation
http://www.eklacorp.com/
Ph: 1-800-328-4215
Fax: 1-866-715-3652
Cell: 630-258-6242
mailto:erinlu@eklacorp.com
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Be A Hero: Save A Life
Someone Needs You. Join the Be The Match Registry.
More than 35,000 people face life-threatening diseases that can only be cured with a blood stem cell transplant. Most patients do not have a match in their family. To survive, they need a transplant from an unrelated donor. You are their only hope for a cure.
Every day, more than 6,000 people desperately search the marrow registry for a lifesaving donor. These are our moms and dads and grandparents, our brothers and sisters, our children and friends.
Only 2 out of every 10 patients receive the transplant that could save their lives, in large part because there is no match for them.
What is a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant?
Marrow produces the blood-forming cells that transplant patients need. The immature marrow stem cells can develop into any of the cells present in the blood stream: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. There are three sources of blood stem cells: bone marrow, the circulating blood (called PBSC) or umbilical cord blood. Your healthy donor cells go directly into the patient’s bloodstream. The cells travel to the marrow, where they begin to function and multiply, saving a life.
How do you join the registry?
If you’re in good health, between the ages of 18 and 60, and are willing to help save the life of a patient in need, it’s simple:
Complete a registration form: contact information, health history, and a signed agreement to join the Registry.
Give a sample of cheek cells using 4 sterile cotton swabs to be sent for tissue-typing.
If you qualify as a potential match to a patient, you will be contacted to confirm your commitment, update your health history and have further testing to determine if you are the best match.
If you are the best match and asked to donate:
You are given a complete physical exam to make sure a donation is safe for both you and the recipient. You are invited to a meeting to answer any questions.
There is no cost to the donor for physical exam, the assessment or the donation itself. To the recipient, and their loved ones, the donor will forever be regarded as a hero..
More than 35,000 people face life-threatening diseases that can only be cured with a blood stem cell transplant. Most patients do not have a match in their family. To survive, they need a transplant from an unrelated donor. You are their only hope for a cure.
Every day, more than 6,000 people desperately search the marrow registry for a lifesaving donor. These are our moms and dads and grandparents, our brothers and sisters, our children and friends.
Only 2 out of every 10 patients receive the transplant that could save their lives, in large part because there is no match for them.
What is a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant?
Marrow produces the blood-forming cells that transplant patients need. The immature marrow stem cells can develop into any of the cells present in the blood stream: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. There are three sources of blood stem cells: bone marrow, the circulating blood (called PBSC) or umbilical cord blood. Your healthy donor cells go directly into the patient’s bloodstream. The cells travel to the marrow, where they begin to function and multiply, saving a life.
How do you join the registry?
If you’re in good health, between the ages of 18 and 60, and are willing to help save the life of a patient in need, it’s simple:
Complete a registration form: contact information, health history, and a signed agreement to join the Registry.
Give a sample of cheek cells using 4 sterile cotton swabs to be sent for tissue-typing.
If you qualify as a potential match to a patient, you will be contacted to confirm your commitment, update your health history and have further testing to determine if you are the best match.
If you are the best match and asked to donate:
You are given a complete physical exam to make sure a donation is safe for both you and the recipient. You are invited to a meeting to answer any questions.
There is no cost to the donor for physical exam, the assessment or the donation itself. To the recipient, and their loved ones, the donor will forever be regarded as a hero..
****************************************
Kristen's story
A recent graduate of Neuqua Valley HS is in need of a stem cell transplant. Her name is Kristen Capawan and here is her story:
Kristen graduated from Neuqua in 2006. She started college at the University of Illinois to study civil engineering. During spring break of her freshman year she was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma at age 18. She underwent chemotherapy at the University of Chicago Comer Children's hospital ending treatment in July of 2007. She returned to U of I that August but home for the Christmas holiday her tests showed the cancer had returned. Her next treatment consisted of intense chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant using her own cells referred to as Autologous transplant followed by radiation. This took place during the winter/spring of 2008. Unfortunately, she was unable to return to the U of I for the spring semester. August of 2008 she returned to U of I embracing education in a different light after being through so much. In late October another test showed some spots that indicated the cancer may be back. After a biopsy was performed it was confirmed by Thanksgiving. The next step for treatment is a Allogeneic transplant. This process is using stem cells from an unrelated donor that has a close match to the person requiring the transplant.
I am asking for the community’s help. Kristen is 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 Chinese which makes her fight for a donor more challenging. Chances for a match are most likely to come from someone with the same ethnic makeup as Kristen. Knowing the diversity of the population in Chicago and in Naperville I am hoping to find someone to come forward with the same ethnicity. However, I would encourage everyone who can to join the marrow registry. Every single day 6,000 patients of all ethnicities check this registry hoping to find a match that could cure them of their diseases.
I am holding a stem cell drive on January 17th at Neuqua Valley HS in Naperville from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The initial process is simply a Q-Tip swab inside the cheek. This is then tissue-typed and added to the registry. If there is a potential match to a patient, the next step is to take a sample of blood for further analysis. If there is an exact match then the procedure for collecting the cells is done in one of two ways. Most often, they are collected through the circulating bloodstream in an apheresis-like procedure. Less common is to collect the cells from the bone marrow in an outpatient procedure with some type of anesthesia. The patient’s condition determines the collection method. You are only asked to donate if there is a specific patient you match who is in need. Our event on January 17th is only to get on the registry. Please see the following websites for more information on this.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.mayoclinic.com
I would have never had known how simple a process this is had it not been for knowing what Kristen was going through. I suspect the general public does not either. Please visit the web sites and show up on January 17th to potentially save someone's life. You must be between the ages of 18-60 years old and in good health to register with the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program).
Event:
Neuqua Valley HS
2360 95th St.
Naperville, IL 60564
Enter the main campus rotunda door # 1
You can also send donations to help with stem cell testing costs.
Please make check payable to Kristen Capawan fund.
Kristen Capawan Fund
c/o Karen Johnson
4536 Barr Creek LN
Naperville, IL 60564
Kristen graduated from Neuqua in 2006. She started college at the University of Illinois to study civil engineering. During spring break of her freshman year she was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma at age 18. She underwent chemotherapy at the University of Chicago Comer Children's hospital ending treatment in July of 2007. She returned to U of I that August but home for the Christmas holiday her tests showed the cancer had returned. Her next treatment consisted of intense chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant using her own cells referred to as Autologous transplant followed by radiation. This took place during the winter/spring of 2008. Unfortunately, she was unable to return to the U of I for the spring semester. August of 2008 she returned to U of I embracing education in a different light after being through so much. In late October another test showed some spots that indicated the cancer may be back. After a biopsy was performed it was confirmed by Thanksgiving. The next step for treatment is a Allogeneic transplant. This process is using stem cells from an unrelated donor that has a close match to the person requiring the transplant.
I am asking for the community’s help. Kristen is 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 Chinese which makes her fight for a donor more challenging. Chances for a match are most likely to come from someone with the same ethnic makeup as Kristen. Knowing the diversity of the population in Chicago and in Naperville I am hoping to find someone to come forward with the same ethnicity. However, I would encourage everyone who can to join the marrow registry. Every single day 6,000 patients of all ethnicities check this registry hoping to find a match that could cure them of their diseases.
I am holding a stem cell drive on January 17th at Neuqua Valley HS in Naperville from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The initial process is simply a Q-Tip swab inside the cheek. This is then tissue-typed and added to the registry. If there is a potential match to a patient, the next step is to take a sample of blood for further analysis. If there is an exact match then the procedure for collecting the cells is done in one of two ways. Most often, they are collected through the circulating bloodstream in an apheresis-like procedure. Less common is to collect the cells from the bone marrow in an outpatient procedure with some type of anesthesia. The patient’s condition determines the collection method. You are only asked to donate if there is a specific patient you match who is in need. Our event on January 17th is only to get on the registry. Please see the following websites for more information on this.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.mayoclinic.com
I would have never had known how simple a process this is had it not been for knowing what Kristen was going through. I suspect the general public does not either. Please visit the web sites and show up on January 17th to potentially save someone's life. You must be between the ages of 18-60 years old and in good health to register with the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program).
Event:
Neuqua Valley HS
2360 95th St.
Naperville, IL 60564
Enter the main campus rotunda door # 1
You can also send donations to help with stem cell testing costs.
Please make check payable to Kristen Capawan fund.
Kristen Capawan Fund
c/o Karen Johnson
4536 Barr Creek LN
Naperville, IL 60564
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