Submitted by BE The Match
Maureen Leuba’s journey battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia was a defining moment in her life. She is not alone.
Every three minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer or other blood disease that requires a blood stem cell transplant to survive.
Unfortunately, 70 percent of patients do not have a matching donor in their family and rely on the national Be The Match Registry® for a match. “Matching” a patient with a donor is not the same as having the same blood type. It’s much more complex. Doctors look for a donor with a close human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match to the patient. This close HLA match is the most important factor in finding the best donor for a patient. Also, race and ethnicity are important factors in finding a good match.
Maureen’s chance of surviving this aggressive blood cancer, without a stem cell transplant, was only 10 to 20 percent when she was diagnosed six years ago. Her siblings were both tested, but neither one was a life saving match for her. A selfless stranger named Megan, 2,000 miles away in California, joined the Be The Match registry at a campus donor registry drive where she was attending college. She was Maureen’s one perfect match (out of 19 million on the international registry at the time). Megan donated her stem cells through a procedure that is a type of blood donation, and saved Maureen’s life.
In an effort to give back, and with hopes of saving more lives, Maureen became a Be The Match volunteer. As a volunteer for this organization, she has conducted donor registry drives, provided education and awareness through speaking engagements, and made fundraising efforts in the central Illinois region for the past five years. This past September, she was invited to attend a Be The Match advocacy ambassador leadership summit in Minneapolis, MN, where she spent a weekend learning how to advocate protecting access and expanding coverage for patients in need of a life-saving stem cell transplant.
Would you like to help Maureen in her efforts to save more lives? To host a Be The Match donor registry drive or Be The Match awareness event in the Peoria area, please contact Maureen at mleuba@comcast.net or call 309-696-7319.
You may be the cure someone is waiting for! You may be eligible to join the Be The Match Registry if you meet the following requirements:
- Are between the ages of 18 to 60
- Live in the United States
- Meet health guidelines
- Are willing to donate to any patient in need
If you are between the ages of 18 to 44, joining the Be The Match registry is free. Patients need donors especially in this age range as research shows that cells from younger donors lead to more successful transplants. To make the best use of our resources, individuals ages 45 to 60 are required to cover their own cost of joining ($100).
How to join
- Register online at join.bethematch.org/healthycells
- After you register, a “swab kit” will be mailed to your home
- Swab your cheek and mail the DNA sample back to complete registration
Be The Match®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), is a nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to helping every patient get the life-saving transplant they need. As trusted leaders in advancing treatments for those facing life-threatening blood cancers, we provide the ground-breaking research, innovative technologies, patient support, and education that save lives.
For more information, please contact Maureen Leuba, Level 2 Be The Match volunteer and advocacy ambassador based in Peoria at mleuba@comcast.net or call 309-696-7319, or check out bethematch.org.