Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) will co-host a marrow donor registration drive in honor of Krystle Felten, a 27 year old Filipina/Hispanic woman who was recently diagnosed with aggressive leukemia in December 2011.
This marrow donor registration drive will be held in conjunction with the monthly Kita Tayo sa SIPA event on Friday, May 11th from 6:00pm to 8:30pm at SIPA (3200 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles 90026).
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Krystle, who is 27, got married in April of 2011, after returning from the Navy. In mid-November, she moved from Eagle Rock, CA to Yuma, AZ to set up her new home and await her husband’s return from his deployment in Afghanistan. One week later, she found herself in the emergency room due to what she thought was a bad sinus infection. She was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and was flown by helicopter to the U of A Medical Center in Tucson, AZ. There, Krystle went through one round of chemotherapy, and a one-month stay in the hospital. Currently, she is receiving care at City of Hope, in Los Angeles, undergoing continued chemotherapy treatment. The only cure for the leukemia is to find a bone marrow donor—this is where you come in.
Being a bone marrow donor involves marrow compatibility all the way down to the genetic level. Krystle’s sister, Suzy had a 30% chance of being a match, but unfortunately, she was not. Next the family turned to the National Bone Marrow Registry to find an unrelated donor match, but unfortunately there were no matches on there either. Now they are faced with finding her match from scratch. There are 10 million people on the registry yet only 25% are of ethnic decent and only 9% of mixed ethnic decent. Krystle is Filipino and Mexican American and because bone marrow is inherited, her bone marrow donor will likely be someone of similar ethnic backgrounds.
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SIPA has volunteered to co-host a marrow drive at its monthly Kita Tayo sa SIPA event on Friday, May 11th at 6:00pm at 3200 W. Temple St. Los Angeles, CA 90026. Details are available via Facebook (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans).
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About SIPA
SIPA’s mission is to enhance the quality of life of Filipino Americans and other communities through youth development, health, economic, and social services. SIPA also develops affordable housing and other projects that promote cultural identity, economic stability, self-sufficiency, and civic participation. SIPA’s innovative programs and services are facilitated through community-based, collaborative relationships. For more information about SIPA, please visit: www.esipa.org .
About Be The Match
Be The Match is a movement that engages a growing community of people inspired to help patients who need an unrelated marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a leader in the field of marrow and cord blood transplantation, created Be The Match to provide opportunities for the public to become involved in saving the lives of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases. Volunteers can join the Be The Match Registry – the world’s largest and most diverse listing of potential marrow donors and donated cord blood units – as well as contribute financially to Be The Match FoundationSM or give their time. For more information, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.
***Contact***
SIPA
Search to Involve Pilipino Americans
Farzana Nayani, M.A.
(213) 382-1819 office