I only know one family personally who is fighting Leukemia. They have a sweet little 4 year old boy that they lovingly refer to as "Superman" because of how heroic he is with his battle against cancer. Yesterday their worst fears came true - Austin has relapsed. His Leukemia is back. He needs a bone marrow transplant to make him better.
I have been having a very difficult time since learning about this yesterday afternoon. This family is the only family I personally know who is fighting Leukemia like Channing. It hits too close to home and all the fears and anxieties from diagnosis are flooding back. I can only imagine a small piece of what this family is enduring right now. I am coming to understand just how helpless people around me must have felt when Channing was diagnosed with Leukemia just last year. The only thing I can think of doing to help this family is by helping them find a match.
Please consider joining www.bethematch.org. Please also share this link. We need more people willing to be donors. It costs NOTHING if you are between the ages of 18-44. It's easy - you review the info on the page and make sure you fit the medical criteria, then you submit your info. A kit will be sent to you to swab your cheeks with a q-tip and then if there is ever a match they will contact you to do further testing. Look through the website to see if this is something you can do to help.
I know that it is a scary thing to think of the possibility of having to get bone marrow removed. My 5 year old son has had a bone marrow biopsy at least 3 times, and he gets needles inserted into his spine every 4 months - and he hasn't complained once about pain in his back. If Channing can do this to save his own life, we can do it to save someone else's.
