Georgia General Assembly Proclaims March 4, 2021 Be The Match Day To Help Add More Donors on the to Be The Match Registry
More than 400 Georgia Patients Turned to Be The Match Searching For a Cure Last year
News provided by
Share this article
Share this article
ATLANTA, March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ For patients battling deadly blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma or life-threatening blood diseases like sickle cell disease or aplastic anemia, there is a cure. A blood stem cell transplant from a matching living donor can offer hope for patients battling these and 70 other deadly blood diseases. Yet, only 30 percent of patients will find a matching donor in their family. The remaining 70 percent turn to the Be The Match Registry and its database of 22 million members who are willing to step up and save the life of a complete stranger.
Former Rehoboth Resident Is Seeking a Match This Valentine’s Day
No, not a love match. Kayla Rose has already found that and is happily engaged. She is searching for a stem cell donor and you could be her match.
Originally from Rehoboth, Rose currently lives in Uxbridge. She is a 27-year-old optometrist who recently graduated from the New England College of Optometry in 2019. She was doing routine checks with a patient when she started to experience dizzy spells.
Photo contributed by Kayla Rose
“Just like everyone else living in the COVID-19 world, I was more tired and rundown than usual in the few months prior to Thanksgiving,” said Rose. “I had my routine physical scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving, and I actually considered skipping it due to COVID, but decided to follow through due to my non-specific symptoms. My PCP ordered routine bloodwork and I got a call at 9 pm on the following Tuesday letting me know that my white blood cell count was almost 60,000; nea
Dozens Come Out to Help 5-Year-Old With Leukemia in New Haven
Jackie, though, is facing a very difficult battle. In December, she was diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML); it is a rare form of leukemia. Since the diagnosis, life has been incredibly challenging for the Erbs.
“It’s been a very crazy last month or so that we’ve gotten through,” explained Brian Erb. “Kind of unimaginable.”
Jackie is undergoing chemotherapy to slow the growth but, unfortunately, that will not be a cure. She needs a bone marrow transplant.
“With (JMML), chemotherapy doesn’t seem to work so the bone marrow transplant is the only option for her,” explained Jackie’s uncle, Christopher Erb, who is a medical doctor with Yale New Haven Health.