Looking for a bone marrow donor at a Santacruzan
This Sunday, May 27, as we revel in our Maytime Santacruzan and get lost in the maze of our festive street fair, let’s stop by the Be a Match table to ask how we can help Kristen “Krystle” Felten.Krystle is a 27-year-old Filipina-Mexican from California who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in December. She learned about her condition after her husband had returned from military deployment.
According to the Be the Match Marrow Registry drive, Krystle has already gone through two rounds of chemotherapy, “but she also has what is called an MLL, which is an aggressive gene that will return and the only way to cure it is through a bone marrow transplant.”
If only she can find a bone marrow donor.
This Sunday, Be the Match will have a table at the CAM Santacruzan dedicated to the campaign to save Krystle. The organization will be looking for Filipinos who may be potential donors, and those who are half Filipino and half Mexican have the highest chance of being a match. Finding out if you’re a match will only take five minutes, usually with a swab of the inside of the cheek. The process won’t involve any finger pricks.
Please stop by the Be the Match table to learn more about Krystle’s condition and how you can help.
Dear The FilAm Editor, thank you very much for trying to help a Filipina in need.