Each year, Rhoads 7 becomes a “race” course for patients from all of HUP’s oncology units who have received a bone marrow transplant or are waiting for a donor to be found. Walking alone (or with a little help from their “friends”), they do laps around the unit with their families and staff to celebrate their marrow donors, their medical teams, and to help raise awareness of the need for people to add their names to the Be The Match Registry, which is part of the National Marrow Donor Program.
Each year in this country, thousands of people who are diagnosed with blood cancers – including leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia – depend on a bone marrow transplant to save their lives. Only 30 percent can turn to a family member for a match. The rest depend on the Be The Match Registry. Yet, even with millions of names, thousands of patients cannot find a match and lose their fight.
“This is all about finding cures for cancer patients,” said David Porter, MD, director of the Abramson Cancer Center’s Bone and Marrow Transplant Program. “Our worst day is when we have to tell a patient ‘A transplant could cure you but we don’t have a donor.’ This is devastating.”
Jennifer McCoy, who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, told her story at the event. She underwent treatment but relapsed last May. “I knew a transplant was coming, but I didn’t know that while I was in recovery, my team was working behind the scenes with Be The Match, setting things in motion, just in case.. And my just in case happened. They had five donors already set up.”
“My patients give me strength. They give me courage,” said Briana Capaldo, BSN, of Rhoads 7. “Be The Match is so much more than an organizations – they are hope.”
“The work done here by staff on these units is nothing less than miraculous,” Porter added.
HUP’s patient walk also helps patients and families show their support for the annual Be The Match Walk/Run fundraiser. This year, Penn’s team raised over $6,000!
“We are raising awareness to find and register more people. People could be cured – and I don’t use that term lightly – if we can find an appropriate donor,” Porter said.
To learn more about Be The Match or about adding your name to the life-saving registry, go to https://bethematch.org.