A letter from Saret is below.
We invite you to use the link below to register as a bone marrow donor and recieve a free at-home kit. ALL IT TAKES TO REGISTER IS A SIMPLE CHEEK SWAB AND 10 MINUTES.
Once registered, you can donate funds for her medical expenses, which are signigicant and growing due to her often daily trips to the hospital.
Hi,
My name is Saret Silva, I am 17 years old. In May of 2007 I was diagnosed with AML (Acute myeloid leukemia) I had to get 5 rounds of chemo over 6 months and then I went into remission. It was a difficult experience but I made it through and I was healthy again for about a year. But last December, after one of my monthly bone marrow aspirations, I found out my leukemia was back and now I need a bone marrow transplant because this cancer is stronger than the chemo I have been getting.
Both of my parents got tested to see if they were a match for me but they weren’t and neither was my little sister. Then the doctors told me that I would need a bone marrow from a non-related donor and the process would last a year, but I would only have to stay in the hospital for 3 months. During this meeting the doctors also told me that I’d only have a 40% chance of making it if I decided to go through with the transplant. I know the odds are against me but it’s my only hope to get cured.
Then the doctors put me in the waiting list, it’s been 3 months and I’m still waiting to find a match. During this time I’ve gotten 3 rounds of maintenance chemo just to keep the leukemia under control, but it’s not going to work forever. Then the doctors found that the chemo caused me to develop gallstones and now I need one more surgery to remove my gallbladder. The more time goes by, the less probability there is that the transplant will work and less time for me.
Last week we had a second meeting with the transplant doctors and they told me that if we don’t find a donor soon we would have to go with Plan B. It’s when one of my parents becomes my donor, but they’re only 50% compatible. This plan isn’t as safe because there is a greater risk that the cancer comes back. For a transplant to work the donor has to be more than 90% compatible. This new protocol they would use with me has only been done on 11 people and it's still a trial protocol. They told me that out of the 11 patients only one is on remission now. 5 of them died from graft vs. host disease, which means that the patient rejects the donor’s bone marrow because it's only 50% compatible. And the other 5 died because they relapsed.
If I go through with plan B there is only a 10% chance that I’d survive and that’s not enough for me, I’m really scared that I won’t be able to cope with all the side effects. I still hope that some place out there is someone who will help me survive and I hope that by writing this letter I’ll inspire more people to try to help me. I’m only 17 and I’m asking for one more chance in life, a chance to be somebody. If I win this battle against cancer, I want to help more kids like me and give them hope, become an oncologist and someday find a cure for this horrible disease.
I’m writing this email so you can help me. Please register here to become a donor: http://www.aadp.org/pages/
You will receive a kit to do an at-home-test.
Please send this email to your friends and anyone who can help me.
Thanks,
Saret
s_saret998@hotmail.comWith questions call Dolores Bernardo at 650.566.8074 or email dolores.bernardo@gmail.com.
