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
--
No comments:
Post a Comment