朋友的女儿Serena，是传说中的别家的孩子。她名校毕业事业有成，
二个孩子在千里之外，依靠着他们的同事和朋友，
美国长大的Serena，
Andrew是幸运的，但是并不是每个亚裔病人都能够及时找到匹配，
Serena和Andrew，还有爱他们的亲朋好友，我们在一起，呼吁广大的华人朋友，积极参加到捐献骨髓的行列。为了兄弟姐妹，为了父老乡亲，为了同胞手足。
给普天下的所有的被爱，多一份生命的机会；让普天下的所有的爱，多一份希望的奉献。
下面是Serena写的 -
Andrew has Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukemia.
I never thought I’d write that sentence. Cancer is one of those universally “bad” things that you know happens, but never really seems real. It happens in movies, or to nameless, faceless people, distant older family members, friends of friends. Never to you. Never to your loved ones.
Even now, it seems surreal that my healthy, happy and strong fiance has messed up bone marrow.
I was hysterical when I found out. I’ve never had a panic attack before but I think I had several in the span of 12 hours. I didn’t know what to do with myself - my mind raced through the last few months - searching for any signs and clues of this diagnosis I may have missed, blaming myself for not buying the best organic vegetables for dinners, thinking through all the worst case scenarios and weeping at the unfairness of life. He is kind, and patient, and I have never heard him say a mean word about anybody. Even now, when he is alone in the hospital, he is strong and humorous. He gives me strength and comfort when I talk to him. Not vice versa. He is a much better person than I am. A future without him is unacceptable and I will lift mountains and move oceans to ensure that we have forever together.
We are lucky. Leukemia has made a lot of advances in technology, and he is young and strong. He is currently at UCSF, and we will transfer him to MSK, where he will receive the best care from the best doctors. We have wonderful family and friends who have all gone above and beyond to support Andrew and me. We have no children or house or responsibilities so we can all our energy on his health. I remind myself that it could be worse.
Everyone has been asking how they can help and support during this time. And to be honest, there’s not much we can do - except sign up to be a bone marrow donor on Be The Match. It is likely that Andrew will need a transplant and the current directory is 70% caucasian - which will make it more difficult for him to find a match.
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Signing up to be a bone marrow donor sounds daunting and scary. I remember signing up for Be The Match during a Bone Marrow Drive at NYU. It was super simple - just a cheek swab that you can trade for a handful for snacks. But I remember being scared, and as much as I wanted to help people, guiltily hoping that, even if I’m in the database, no one would ever need me to actually donate. You are not obligated to donate even if you are a match, but if someone’s life were in my hands - I don’t think I could say no.
I hemmed and hawed but ultimately decided to sign up because I reasoned: this could happen to me or my family, and if it did, then I would want others to step up. I thought I would sign up for good karma, to protect me and my loved ones.
Obviously, life doesn’t work out that way. Who knew that years down the line, Andrew would need to rely on this database - a directory of strangers - to potentially save his life? I hope and pray that you will never ever need to use this, but in a way it gives me comfort - I made my deposit ten years ago, and now I am here to withdraw for Andrew.
With COVID-19, we cannot host large scale bone marrow drives, and will need to rely on mail-in kits. Time is of the essence, so PLEASE register with the National Marrow
Donor Program today:
http://join.bethematch.org/
Asian Americans have the best chances of being a match - but even if you are not -- sign up anyways - in solidarity with us - and encourage your friends, co-workers, and larger community to sign up. And then - tell us! Tell us so we can thank you. Thank you for thinking of us - for taking the time to help us - for going above and beyond what you need to - for not ignoring when you can just as easily move on with your healthy and happy lives.
If you are scared -- it’s okay! I was too, BUT (I have now become somewhat of an expert on blood and bone marrow) I can vouch that bone marrow donation is actually painless and fast. So…. please do it. You could save a life. You could save OUR lives.
Thank you for reading --
