cheekswab.org
While Amit continues to recover from the bone marrow transplant process, it’s important to remember that the need for minority donors still exists. The struggle to find a donor is not over for thousands of minority patients every year who find themselves in similar circumstances.
http://www.cheekswab.org/ is a new website that’s launched in the last two weeks in hopes of putting together some information to better inform prospective donors about the need, process, and experience of both joining the registry and donating bone marrow. Please visit cheekswab.org to learn more, and remember to sign up for a donor kit if you haven’t already! Spreading awareness is the first step to saving lives!
Many of you have asked, so here’s what’s going on with me.
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
- 8/1979: Born. Grew up in CT, built a killer eraser collection, fell in love with computers.
- Left college to start a company. Fell hard. Fled to India for 3 months.
- Started 2nd company. Learned to be an adult. Fell in love with NYC.
- Moved to SF, discovered burritos & some of my fave people on Earth.
- 9/2011: Got diagnosed with Leukemia!
- Cried. Went through 3 cycles of chemo. Hurt. Thought hard about what I want out of life. Grew up a second time.
TODAY
… After over 100 drives organized by friends, family, and strangers, celebrity call-outs, a bazillion reblogs (7000+!), tweets, and Facebook posts, press, fundraising and international drives organized by tireless friends, and a couple painful false starts, I’ve got a 10/10 matched donor!
You all literally helped save my life. (And the lives of many others.)
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Tomorrow, I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber in Boston for 4-5 weeks.
First I’ll get a second Hickman line to allow direct access to my heart (for meds and for nutrients if I’m not able to eat). Over the next week, the docs blast my body with a stiff chemo cocktail to try and eradicate all traces of cancer cells. In the process, the immune system I was born with, and my body’s ability to make blood, are destroyed.
Next Friday, I get my donor’s stem cells by IV. I start on immunosuppressants to prevent my body from rejecting them (I’ll be on them for 12-18 months). For these weeks I’ve no immune system, so I’m severely vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. My hospital room and hallway become my world.
Meanwhile, the stem cells make their way to my bone marrow and, with some luck, start producing platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own.
This is science fiction stuff. I can hardly believe it’s even possible, and there’s lots of chances for things to go wrong. It’s frightening.
AFTER THE TRANSPLANT
Recovery to a new state of “normal” takes about a year, but there’s a few storm clouds hovering:
- My immune system is new, like a baby’s. I’m prone to getting sick.
- Just as with any organ transplant, there’s a chance of rejection. Except in this case, it’s my blood that’s the foreign body, and it touches every organ. They call it graft-vs-host-disease and it can cause health issues and organ complications for the rest of my life.
- Successful transplant or not, Leukemia can relapse. Stubborn mofo.
Overall, 75% of AML transplant patients survive year one, 50% make it through year five. My odds are a little better since I’m young.
THE GREAT NEWS
I’ve got a long road ahead. But I’ve got a donor & amazing family & friends. A few months ago I didn’t have many options. Today I have a plan.
I am alive. I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Thank you.
The Takeaway, a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, interviewed Amit this morning. Have a listen for an update about the donor search.
What Happens Now?
There have been a lot of questions about what’s going on with Amit now that our deadline has passed. (Nov 30th — chosen based on Amit’s doctor’s optimal treatment schedule and the amount of time it takes the NMDP to process and make a swab available to search.)
In short, we wait.
In the meantime, Amit will receive chemotherapy while his doctors work to identify and confirm a potential donor. We hope he’s able to have a transplant early next year.
Although samples collected from here on out will probably not be a part of his search, Amit and everyone else who has been working so hard on this project encourage you to continue to spread the word about the cause.
Please, tell your friends and family about the need for marrow donation. There are hundreds of patients waiting for a transplant.
Every person you add to the registry could be the match that saves a life.
Aziz Ansari and Chris Pratt Urge You to Give a Spit about Cancer
Rinee Shah made this beautiful video. Please share it to help spread the word.
We’re in need of a few volunteers to help in NYC and elsewhere. Can you help?
- In NYC, Samar is looking for a few volunteers for a few hours this Sunday to help assemble swab kits. Comment on this Facebook post for more info.
- In Boston, Josh Gardner is looking volunteers to help at donor drives he’s organizing, as well as people who have connections to local universities. Here’s his post and he’s asking that people email him at jbgardner@gmail.com.
- Jackie’s still looking for volunteers to help contact Indian temples and cultural centers about hosting donor drives. You can be anywhere to help. She needs people to help email, design, and write. Contact her at anyjackie@gmail.com.
Please reblog!
p.s. For the latest on how to help, and where donor drives are happening, etc. check out amitguptaneedsyou.com. (You can also stay up to date by liking the Facebook page or following this Tumblr)
Thanks for visiting!
We’re incredibly appreciative. This site is brand-new so we’re still working out a few kinks and finishing up some pages.
A HUGE thanks to David Cole and Tag Savage for pulling an all-nighter to design it!
First Bone Marrow Test Clean!
Following his week-long induction chemotherapy, Amit’s family got the results of his first bone marrow test today, and it’s clean!
He’ll be having another test in two weeks, and if that’s clean too, it’s a great sign and it means treatment can proceed as planned.
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