Emily Sun
Eurasian Sensation sent this one: Asians Seeking Asians–and underachieving.
I blogged about this before with the story of Janet Liang. There is a terrible shortage of registered Asian people willing to donate bone marrow, which means that if you are Asian and develop leukemia, it may be harder to find a bone marrow match. Emily Sun (pictured above), is an Asian Australian who has leukemia. She is the mother of a small son. She desperately needs bone marrow. See her website here. If you are a match, you may save not only her life, but you may also rescue a son’s mother. It is literally life or death for her.
Some of you may remember Dawen the musician, who had a big YouTube following before moving to Taiwan and hitting it big. Dawen himself is a marrow donor, and he keeps in touch with the young woman whose life he saved. Read it here.
It really is a small sacrifice to save a person’s life. I’m not the kind of person to put pressure on people, but if you find it in your heart to register (and if you would be willing to go under IF you are a match), please do so here. We’re all in this journey called life together. Let’s give help to those who need it.
Thank you, Byron, for posting on this issue regularly, and for linking in this instance to Emily’s page (and my post). It would be great for Luke to have his mum for a little while longer, and not always in the hospital. It’s a very tough time at the moment, and your support from across the Pacific means a lot. Thanks again.
Marrow matches for Asian minorities in Western nations are rare as diamonds.
This being said, I’m asking all Asians in these nations to put on a concerted effort to tackle this issue.
[Removed the stupid part of this comment while keeping the good part. --bigWOWO]
Tseen,
Thanks!
I hope Emily finds a match. I’ve got more to say and will come back later today.
@ WOWO lol! So does that now count as 1 of the 20?
Haha! No, I don’t think so, King. There was a snarky comment about Asians that followed the good part.
Tseen,
I was going to say that there are 1.3 billion people in China. There’s gotta be a match out there, but I don’t how it’s organized. Do American hospitals have access to Chinese donors? What about the relationship between American and Australian hospitals?
Anyway, if there’s any way that I can further help, please let me know. I’m sure it’s really tough to see your friend go through what she’s going through. Please give her our best.
I don’t get why he continues to try and post negative stuff when he knows you’re not letting it through.
@ moroboshi
In answer to your question:
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the
scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The
frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion
says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”
The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of
paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,
but has just enough time to gasp “Why?”
Replies the scorpion: “Its my nature…”
Aesop 62 BC
Hi, this is Emily. I really don’t want to die. I have a lot to live for. I would imagine that within China there are registries and I have friends who say that university students are donating. My dad told me a story today about when he was studying in China (50s) and how a man had an accident on the field and everyone rushed to help him, and offer blood donation. I really don’t want to die. My sister is a professor at Irvine which is where there are heaps and heaps of Asians. Anyway, this social network thing has a life of its own. There is a lot of good will but a lot of misinformation. People think stem cells are embryonic, that bone marrow involves taking bones. Is there anyway of getting in touch with Dawen?
I think the word “bone marrow” scares people. That and “cancer” and “chemotherapy”. When I was first diagnosed I thought, “Sadako and the 1000 cranes”. I didn’t think I would survive. I also didn’t understand oncogenesis..how cancer happens. In fact, having been brought up with some traditional Chinese beliefs, I blamed myself and had a hard time coming to terms with it. My friends set up the campaign for me because I knew about Janet last year and I knew the statistics. At the moment I have friends across the diaspora trying to raise awareness. It’s early days, but I am hopeful. I have about 6-8 months.
Emily,
I just FB’ed Dawen with a message. I’ll try to put you two in touch.
I know this isn’t a fight that you chose, but I want to thank you for your bravery. Your story resonates with a lot of people. I wish I had more information about how these registries are organized. Even if a fraction of 1.3 billion people registered, I would think that your chances should be greater. Maybe we can start asking some questions and finding out more from the people who organize the registries.
thanks bigwow. I’ve no idea what’s happening as I’m between chemo and not feeling well. But I’ve been thinking about this one. I think it’s that in my parent’s culture, not just theirs, but there are taboos about illness. Across all cultures. My dad admitted that they did not talk about illness or death. Almost as if if you don’t talk about it, it can’t happen to you. Or that it’s a white person’s problem. I have spoken to people about this – that and I guess no one wants to be the “diseased Asian” that everyone so feared. Fortunately for me, I have nothing to lose. I hope I’m well enough to get on our national TV to talk about this. If not hopefully one of my friends can articulate what I can’t when I’m passed out in bed. But yeah, I never thought I could get sick either. I never knew about sick Asian except Sadako and she was nuked. If you read Battle Hymn for the Tiger Mum to the end, you find out that her sister had leukemia. But in a way there is some but not a lot of reflection upon that. Maybe I wanted more because I have a blood cancer too. I like to think it’s the lack of awareness and that esp as families grow smaller, life becomes more precious. Also our feedback has been a lot of people are freaked out by the process. I have to admit I didn’t know we had stem cells in us that could be harvested until I got sick!
Anyway, I’m doing all I can. HOpe I will get there. If nothing else maybe help someone else. I know I am benefitting from Janet Laing’s efforts.
Emily,
Keep up the fight. I’m glad that you’re going to be going on national TV, and I hope you are able to make an impression in Australia. I think you’re 100% correct. Much of the time, we don’t talk about it because it doesn’t affect us…until it affects us. By sharing your story, you’re bringing a human element on the question of why we need to register and do what we can to help our fellow human beings.
We’ll continue to talk about it here, and I’m going to see if I can learn more locally about where and how the international medical community is organized.
From my FB feed, it looks like more and more people are registering. Hopefully we’ll find a match.
By the way, does Australia have an equivalent to the Committee of 100, where rich and famous Chinese people get together?
http://www.committee100.org/
They often have international access to high level politicians and rich people. On an issue like blood cancer, I’m assuming they (or the Australian equivalent) could probably move more easily without getting too tied down by politics. I unfortunately don’t know people who are part of the C100.
I just googled Amy Chua’s sister and leukemia. Here’s what I found from her FB:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/amy-chua/a-letter-about-bone-marrow-donation-please-read/145228265550271