Be the match! Debbie needs your help!

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a cancer that begins in the bone marrow and moves to the blood. It occurs when monocytes in the bone marrow grow out of control, preventing other blood cells from growing. CCML is rare, and occurs in about four of every one million people in the U.S. yearly. There are about 1,100 new cases diagnosed annually and is mostly found in people ages 60 years and older.

CMML treatment often requires supportive care with transfusions and antibiotics, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a stem cell transplant to replace blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow with healthy stem cells from a donor. One local CCML patient, Debbie Stern, is now in need of a bone marrow transplant. Her donor must be a person of Ashkenazi Jewish descent between the ages of 18 and 45.

Ezer Mizion is the largest Jewish Bone Marrow Registry in the world and helps people like Debbie by sending out a free cheek swabbing kit to a person who may be her match. While the organization is located in both New York City and Israel, it doesn’t matter where you live. You simply ask for a kit, swab your cheek, and send it back. If you are a match, you would donate stem cells through your arm locally, much like plasma, which then gets shipped to the hospital performing the transplant. If you are not a match, Ezer Mizion keeps your sample as it may be a match for someone else.

Many Jewish people of Ashkenazi descent are in need of bone marrow transplants and are awaiting a donor. Learn more at www.ezermizion.org or call 718-853-8400. If you have a question for Debbie, email her at deblevstern@gmail.com.