CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx \u2014 As Childhood Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, an organization that helps blood cancer patients find matching donors is reminding Coastal Bend residents that the need for potential donors continues year-round.<\/p>\n
September is recognized as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, represented by the color gold. Throughout the month, NMDP has worked to raise awareness about blood cancers and the role potential donors can play in giving patients a second chance at life.<\/p>\n
As Childhood Cancer Awareness Month ends, NMDP shares update on Emery Ramos<\/p>\n
On Sept. 24, Leticia Mondragon with NMDP, formerly known as Be The Match and the National Marrow Donor Program, joined KRIS 6 in the studio with Neighborhood News Reporter Stephanie Molina to discuss the donor registry and share an update on Kingsville\u2019s Emery Ramos, a young girl battling leukemia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you register with NMDP, you not only have the opportunity to help save a life in your local community, but anywhere in the world because it goes back to your ethnic background,\u201d Mondragon said.<\/p>\n
Mondragon said one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding donation is that becoming a match automatically means undergoing a painful bone marrow procedure.<\/p>\n
She said more than 90% of donations are now peripheral blood stem cell donations, a process she compared to donating platelets, plasma or double red blood cells.<\/p>\n
Finding people willing to join the registry is especially important because many patients cannot rely on a relative for a match.<\/p>\n
Mondragon said about 75% of blood cancer patients who need a transplant must find an unrelated donor, while about 25% find a match within their family.<\/p>\n
The search for a match for Emery continues<\/p>\n
For one South Texas family, that search hits especially close to home.<\/p>\n
Emery Ramos, a young girl from Kingsville who has been battling leukemia, is currently in remission and recently started second grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle Princess Emery is doing well,\u201d Mondragon said during the Sept. 24 interview.<\/p>\n
But Mondragon emphasized that remission does not necessarily mean a cure. If Emery were to relapse, she could need a blood stem cell transplant.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the search for a potential match for Emery continues even as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month comes to an end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still searching for a match,\u201d Mondragon said. \u201cYou could be Emery\u2019s cure or anyone in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
NMDP says a person’s ethnic background plays an important role in finding compatible donors, making a diverse registry especially important for patients searching for a match.<\/p>\n
While Childhood Cancer Awareness Month may be ending, the need for potential donors does not.<\/p>\n