Dear Colleagues, Friends and Neighbors;
My name is Cathy Hoogendoorn and I am a kindergarten teacher at Woodside Avenue School. I recently learned that a very close family friend’s son, Anthony, is battling cancer for the third time in three years. At this time they are reaching out to all of their family and friends for help. Anthony needs an outside donor of white blood cells to fight this devastating disease. Since Anthony’s donor will be rare, less than 1% of the population is a match, I am compelled to help! However, I can’t do this alone.
After speaking to Dr. Romano we felt that this would be a wonderful opportunity for the Franklin Lakes school community to get involved and help. During this time of year when we are reflecting on all of our own blessings and what we are thankful for, what better time than now to give the gift of life. Even if your not a match for Anthony, you may be able to give that gift to someone else.
To learn more about Anthony’s story and how you can help, please read the letter below.
Dear Friends and Family;
Almost three years ago my family was shaken to the core as our 19-year-old son Anthony was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (Hodgkin’s Disease). Since that day, December 22, 2011, Anthony has continued his studies at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business while undergoing cancer treatments at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City.
Anthony, a talented and hard-working college athlete, has faced his disease with courage, endured every approved FDA chemotherapy and radiation. On March 19th, while in isolation for several weeks, Anthony received an Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant (meaning Anthony was his own donor). Unfortunately, this disease continues to manifest within Anthony and brings my wife Lori and me to reach out to all of our family, and friends for support.
The Challenge: Anthony will need an Allogeneic Transplant (meaning Anthony now needs an outside donor of white blood cells). Utilizing the world wide donor bank, we have found that Anthony’s donor match will be rare, less than 1% of the population is a match.
The Process: Testing to see if you’re a match is simple and painless. It’s a swab of the inside of the cheek. If later you are identi?ed as a potential match, the next step of the process is similar to giving blood and can be done at your local Red Cross or nearby hospital. In fact, there is little loss of blood by the donor whereas the white blood cells are separated and collected during the donation and feeling back to normal is a matter of hours. The strongest match will come from any healthy person (regardless of sex or blood type) from the ages of 18-40 yrs.
The Ask: We have been working with MSKCC and Be the Match.Org to help ?nd the best match for Anthony. The worldwide donor registry currently has no known match for Anthony so Lori and I are asking every person we know to help by joining www.Bethematch.org. By joining, you will be asked to become a donor, and if there’s a match, provide by blood donation, needed white cells for our son’s cure.
How Can You Help:
1. When you come in for your child’s Parent Teacher Conference, please stop by the school nurse to complete an online form and collect a swab of cheek cells.
2. If your child attends FAMS, please stop by any elementary school from Wednesday, December 4th – Friday, December 6th and complete an online form and collect a swab of cheek cells.
3. If you cannot make it to any of the schools during this time, please go online to www.bethematch,org to learn how to become a donor from home. 4. If you are unable to donate, or you would like to make a donation to Be The Match, please make your check out to Be The Match and send it in an envelope labeled: Be The Match c/o Cathy Hoogendoorn at Woodside Avenue School.
Sampling is as easy as wiping the insides of your cheek with a swab, placing the swab in a carrier provided, then mailing it back with the enclosed package. If you are a match, Be The Match.Org will contact you around 12 weeks later. If you are not a match for Anthony, than maybe you can be an angel for another family.
Due to the rareness of Anthony’s white blood cells, increasing the sample size is critical and we are forwarding this request to each of you and would like to ask you in turn to forward this to your networks. All members, age appropriate, of your family are welcome to help provide a donor sample. Thank you in advance for you support and consideration!
If anyone has any questions or concerns on how to be a donor, please feel free to contact us below or www.bethematch.org.
Kevin Daniels (201) 445-4503 H; (201) 376-6324 C Lori Daniels (201) 445-4503 H; (201)315-8153 C
Thank you all for your support and please join us in praying for Anthony and his donor angel waiting to be found.