It's finally here - the Swab-a-thon and Stem Cell Awareness Event!
We have our fingers crossed that we'll have a fabulous turnout. Can you imagine if you end up being a match for Dr. Abhijit Guha or Carolyn Tam or anyone else waiting for a transplant?
Even if that's not the case, we have made the effort to get people thinking about registration. Every story in the media, facebook page, e-mail, conversation - they all matter. It's like that Gandhi quote: "We need to be the change we wish to see in the world."
Fill out a form, take a cheek swab - it's the first step towards change.
More details on the event can be found here. The map is here.
Hope to see you at The Tagore Centre!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
First impressions...
I've been thinking about what I want to say in this forum for the past several days. Should I talk about my relationship with Dr. Ab Guha, who has been my friend, mentor, and advisor for almost two decades, and is now in hospital diagnosed with AML. About the numerous ways in which he has helped people, locally and around the world, both professionally and personally? Maybe I should discuss the terrible need that patients with leukemia and their families must feel when informed that their best chance of survival is with a stem cell transplant. Or, perhaps I should clarify how the donor matching system works, in order to increase awareness among readers and encourage further registration.
I'll eventually write about all of these things on this site. But tonight, I want to tell you about 'Amanda,' a little girl I met in 1998, before I even started my medical training, at the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC).
I met Amanda when I volunteered to read to young patients in the hospital library. She was 9 years old when we met, and by then had been admitted for almost 2 months with a relapse of her leukemia. Her chemotherapy wasn't doing what her doctors and family had hoped it would, and her best hope for recovery was to receive a bone marrow transplant. She had one younger sister and a half-brother, neither of whom turned out to be matches for her. Thus, her team had applied to the Canadian donor registry to conduct an international search for potential donors. Back then, there were 5.4 million donors registered worldwide, fewer than half the number registered today.
At the time, I had already been a blood donor for several years, but hadn't really thought about becoming a bone marrow donor. Part of the reason for this was that bone marrow donation wasn't at all prominent in the public consciousness in 1998. Canadian Blood Services (CBS) had just been created in the aftermath of the Krever inquiry into the hepatitis C/HIV tainted blood fiasco, and had not yet incorporated the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry (UBMDR). Prior to this, the UBMDR, as far as I can remember, didn't really advertise itself much, and the only people who seemed to be aware of it were those in the medical profession, cancer patients and their families.
I first learned about the registry through my friendship with Amanda. I volunteered at the HSC library often back then, so I was able to see Amanda and her family frequently; she enjoyed listening to me read, and I enjoyed her company. So it was heart-wrenching to watch as, day after day, the registry was unable to turn up a match. Needless to say, I registered myself as soon as I could, but haven't been lucky enough to be called to this very day.
Amanda's condition worsened gradually, until she finally passed away three months after we first met. Two weeks before she died, she gave me a little yellow Teletubbie doll, Laa-Laa, a joke we shared on a play on my last name.
The infra-structure in place for donor registration has improved significantly since then, but there's still a long way to go. Information is getting out to the public mostly through the concerted efforts of patients and their families and friends; OneMatch, the ultimate offspring of the UBMDR, is working on several avenues of community awareness, and will hopefully soon introduce a comprehensive campaign to help build up the registry here in Canada.
So here's to the memory of Amanda, and all the other Amandas out there; here's to the hope of finding matches for those still waiting, including Dr. Guha. Please help support this worthy cause, and register to become a stem cell donor: online (http://www.onematch.ca/), over the phone (1-888-2DONATE), or in person at "Swab-A-Thon", our donor recruitment drive this Sunday, September 28, at The Tagore Centre, 140 Millwick Drive, from 11 am to 3 pm.
-Prateek Lala
I'll eventually write about all of these things on this site. But tonight, I want to tell you about 'Amanda,' a little girl I met in 1998, before I even started my medical training, at the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC).
I met Amanda when I volunteered to read to young patients in the hospital library. She was 9 years old when we met, and by then had been admitted for almost 2 months with a relapse of her leukemia. Her chemotherapy wasn't doing what her doctors and family had hoped it would, and her best hope for recovery was to receive a bone marrow transplant. She had one younger sister and a half-brother, neither of whom turned out to be matches for her. Thus, her team had applied to the Canadian donor registry to conduct an international search for potential donors. Back then, there were 5.4 million donors registered worldwide, fewer than half the number registered today.
At the time, I had already been a blood donor for several years, but hadn't really thought about becoming a bone marrow donor. Part of the reason for this was that bone marrow donation wasn't at all prominent in the public consciousness in 1998. Canadian Blood Services (CBS) had just been created in the aftermath of the Krever inquiry into the hepatitis C/HIV tainted blood fiasco, and had not yet incorporated the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry (UBMDR). Prior to this, the UBMDR, as far as I can remember, didn't really advertise itself much, and the only people who seemed to be aware of it were those in the medical profession, cancer patients and their families.
I first learned about the registry through my friendship with Amanda. I volunteered at the HSC library often back then, so I was able to see Amanda and her family frequently; she enjoyed listening to me read, and I enjoyed her company. So it was heart-wrenching to watch as, day after day, the registry was unable to turn up a match. Needless to say, I registered myself as soon as I could, but haven't been lucky enough to be called to this very day.
Amanda's condition worsened gradually, until she finally passed away three months after we first met. Two weeks before she died, she gave me a little yellow Teletubbie doll, Laa-Laa, a joke we shared on a play on my last name.The infra-structure in place for donor registration has improved significantly since then, but there's still a long way to go. Information is getting out to the public mostly through the concerted efforts of patients and their families and friends; OneMatch, the ultimate offspring of the UBMDR, is working on several avenues of community awareness, and will hopefully soon introduce a comprehensive campaign to help build up the registry here in Canada.
So here's to the memory of Amanda, and all the other Amandas out there; here's to the hope of finding matches for those still waiting, including Dr. Guha. Please help support this worthy cause, and register to become a stem cell donor: online (http://www.onematch.ca/), over the phone (1-888-2DONATE), or in person at "Swab-A-Thon", our donor recruitment drive this Sunday, September 28, at The Tagore Centre, 140 Millwick Drive, from 11 am to 3 pm.
-Prateek Lala
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Why am I here?
It seems like only a few months ago, but in reality it has been 15 years since I first met with Dr. Guha professionally. I was a younger -I thought smarter- know-it-all who was having a tough time deciding what to do with my summer and whether or not to proceed with physical sciences or do what 90% of us South Asians were bred to do, medicine.
After a rough week of door-to-door canvassing of doctors, surgeons, clinics, even a few mystics, I came across a very unassuming Dr. Guha. I had no idea how well known he was, and he gave me no cause to think on it. Then, as now, he was humble. He opened his office and lab to me for no other reason than to give me a chance. Well that began 5 years of continuous work in his lab, surrounded by his loyal colleagues who spoke of him with only admiration. Never any gossip, no controversy, just describing a man who gives and does hard, hard work, in public service.
Why he gave me that break, I don't know. Looking back I certainly would not have! But he is that kind of guy. He helps others -be they community member or stranger.
Since then I had largely fallen out of touch with him and his lab. But there were things I never forgot. I dreaded those awful 6am meetings he was insane enough to schedule, but I thought, if this old man can get up, speak with us for an hour, stay on his feet during surgery for 8 hours, then run a clinic, then crawl home and spend sometime with his family, who am I to complain of a ridiculous commute? We all grumbled, but the donuts he unknowingly paid for, helped :D
Ab allowed me to fail. He must feel that there is something to be learned, and that it is worth paying for. Indeed, all those hours pouring through papers well beyond my years, performing experiments, honing some minor surgical skills (if you ever need a stitch-me-up, I'm your man), have stood me in great stead. I managed to go through grad school having already acquired many of the skills others were just starting to become acquainted with. I was dragged to conferences where I was the youngest presenter, forced to stand starkly in a crowd of scientists where clearly out-of-my-depth. But he did not strand me. Dr. Guha stood by silently, always ready to answer the questions I could not. This all translated into an amazingly confident young man presenting to even larger audiences and congresses just a few years later! Abhijit has taught me to be tough, somewhat diplomatic, and never give up.
Foremost, Dr. Guha taught me one thing: MEDICINE IS NOT FOR ME! A very valuable, but costly experiment he didn't mind footing the bill for.
So why exactly am I here? Is it because I owe him? Is it because he is a friend who needs help? Maybe because he is needed by those patients whose lives he has yet still to touch? No. Really it is because he has shown me what it is to give of one self, without any expectation of personal return. I hope to become a little bit more like him to become a better person -as selfish as that is!
It doesn't end after finding his match. I have had the good fortune to be working with some stellar folks who give their time and energy for no obvious reason. I have met Ash (a great leader) and Piali (who doesn't even know Khoka Dada), reacquainted with Prateek (who taught me a lot back then working with Ab and continues to impress), talked to Tamu Townsend whose brother Emru just had a transplant and had a lot of selfless advice, as well as both Anuradhas who are taking the initiative. I welcome the opportunity to continue to work with them, and with YOU!
So if you haven't already, REGISTER!!!! Instructions are here, everywhere. Get OTHERS to register. If you are in the GTA, come to our event this Sunday, otherwise go online. That's all. Really, this is what is important at this point and all else should take a back seat, so unless our conversation will have the words stem cell in there somewhere, they can wait.
After a rough week of door-to-door canvassing of doctors, surgeons, clinics, even a few mystics, I came across a very unassuming Dr. Guha. I had no idea how well known he was, and he gave me no cause to think on it. Then, as now, he was humble. He opened his office and lab to me for no other reason than to give me a chance. Well that began 5 years of continuous work in his lab, surrounded by his loyal colleagues who spoke of him with only admiration. Never any gossip, no controversy, just describing a man who gives and does hard, hard work, in public service.
Why he gave me that break, I don't know. Looking back I certainly would not have! But he is that kind of guy. He helps others -be they community member or stranger.
Since then I had largely fallen out of touch with him and his lab. But there were things I never forgot. I dreaded those awful 6am meetings he was insane enough to schedule, but I thought, if this old man can get up, speak with us for an hour, stay on his feet during surgery for 8 hours, then run a clinic, then crawl home and spend sometime with his family, who am I to complain of a ridiculous commute? We all grumbled, but the donuts he unknowingly paid for, helped :D
Ab allowed me to fail. He must feel that there is something to be learned, and that it is worth paying for. Indeed, all those hours pouring through papers well beyond my years, performing experiments, honing some minor surgical skills (if you ever need a stitch-me-up, I'm your man), have stood me in great stead. I managed to go through grad school having already acquired many of the skills others were just starting to become acquainted with. I was dragged to conferences where I was the youngest presenter, forced to stand starkly in a crowd of scientists where clearly out-of-my-depth. But he did not strand me. Dr. Guha stood by silently, always ready to answer the questions I could not. This all translated into an amazingly confident young man presenting to even larger audiences and congresses just a few years later! Abhijit has taught me to be tough, somewhat diplomatic, and never give up.
Foremost, Dr. Guha taught me one thing: MEDICINE IS NOT FOR ME! A very valuable, but costly experiment he didn't mind footing the bill for.
So why exactly am I here? Is it because I owe him? Is it because he is a friend who needs help? Maybe because he is needed by those patients whose lives he has yet still to touch? No. Really it is because he has shown me what it is to give of one self, without any expectation of personal return. I hope to become a little bit more like him to become a better person -as selfish as that is!
It doesn't end after finding his match. I have had the good fortune to be working with some stellar folks who give their time and energy for no obvious reason. I have met Ash (a great leader) and Piali (who doesn't even know Khoka Dada), reacquainted with Prateek (who taught me a lot back then working with Ab and continues to impress), talked to Tamu Townsend whose brother Emru just had a transplant and had a lot of selfless advice, as well as both Anuradhas who are taking the initiative. I welcome the opportunity to continue to work with them, and with YOU!
So if you haven't already, REGISTER!!!! Instructions are here, everywhere. Get OTHERS to register. If you are in the GTA, come to our event this Sunday, otherwise go online. That's all. Really, this is what is important at this point and all else should take a back seat, so unless our conversation will have the words stem cell in there somewhere, they can wait.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Four days to go - Swab-a-thon in Toronto
It's hard to believe that the Swab-a-thon aka Awareness Event is almost here. Not only is the word getting out there, but the effort to find a donor for Dr. Abhijit Guha is also getting media attention.
Angie Seth of OMNI News: South Asian Edition did a two-part series on the need to increase South Asian participation in the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network on Monday and Tuesday.
Aparita Bhandari has also brought up the drive a few weeks ago on CBC Radio One's Metro Morning, the Toronto morning show with Andy Barrie on 99.1 FM. She will be talking about it again on Thursday morning. UPDATE: It was a lovely piece with an interview with Abhijit Guha, very sensitively done. The audio is available at Metro Morning for the week. And Andy Barrie mentioned the Swab-a-thon. Yeah!
We've also been approached by Tamu Townsend of Montreal, whose brother Emru just received a transplant. They worked really hard to increase ethnic participation in the registry. Carolyn Tam, who is waiting for a transplant, and was also the driving force to bring East Asians to OneMatch, has also given our support.
Their response and networks reminds us how interconnected we all are and how we can all work to help each other!
Please pass on the message and let's help the almost 600 people waiting in Canada for a transplant. Could you be the one?
Angie Seth of OMNI News: South Asian Edition did a two-part series on the need to increase South Asian participation in the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network on Monday and Tuesday.
Aparita Bhandari has also brought up the drive a few weeks ago on CBC Radio One's Metro Morning, the Toronto morning show with Andy Barrie on 99.1 FM. She will be talking about it again on Thursday morning. UPDATE: It was a lovely piece with an interview with Abhijit Guha, very sensitively done. The audio is available at Metro Morning for the week. And Andy Barrie mentioned the Swab-a-thon. Yeah!
We've also been approached by Tamu Townsend of Montreal, whose brother Emru just received a transplant. They worked really hard to increase ethnic participation in the registry. Carolyn Tam, who is waiting for a transplant, and was also the driving force to bring East Asians to OneMatch, has also given our support.
Their response and networks reminds us how interconnected we all are and how we can all work to help each other!
Please pass on the message and let's help the almost 600 people waiting in Canada for a transplant. Could you be the one?
Monday, September 22, 2008
Why get involved with recruiting donors?
The answer is easy. How often do you get the chance to affect one person's life for the better?
My cousin Ronnie has a number of projects going on in India to help improve the lives of the poor. His motto is "Each one, teach one." He believes if every person of means in India helped out just one person with school fees or microcredit loans, imagine the kind of change that could be unleashed.
What works better for me is "Each one, reach one." Even though I have already forwarded messages about the upcoming Swab-a-thon here in Toronto or posted a note on our Facebook pages, it's when I actually reach out and check in with my friends, answer their questions, remind them about the statistics or how more people donate stem cells through a blood donation process rather than through a bone marrow transplant, that a few more friends ACT and register. Each one, reach one. And repeat.
I'm probably not going to save the world anytime soon. I'm not working on some fabulous vaccine or hydrogen-fuelled car. But I can spread the word to register with OneMatch or pass along the recruitment message that we need more South Asians, well, more people of all backgrounds, to participate.
And so can you. Each one, reach one.
Piali
My cousin Ronnie has a number of projects going on in India to help improve the lives of the poor. His motto is "Each one, teach one." He believes if every person of means in India helped out just one person with school fees or microcredit loans, imagine the kind of change that could be unleashed.
What works better for me is "Each one, reach one." Even though I have already forwarded messages about the upcoming Swab-a-thon here in Toronto or posted a note on our Facebook pages, it's when I actually reach out and check in with my friends, answer their questions, remind them about the statistics or how more people donate stem cells through a blood donation process rather than through a bone marrow transplant, that a few more friends ACT and register. Each one, reach one. And repeat.
I'm probably not going to save the world anytime soon. I'm not working on some fabulous vaccine or hydrogen-fuelled car. But I can spread the word to register with OneMatch or pass along the recruitment message that we need more South Asians, well, more people of all backgrounds, to participate.
And so can you. Each one, reach one.
Piali
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Doctor seeks bone marrow donor: Torontonian needs a match from a South Asian
Here's an article about Dr. Guha from the Vancouver Sun. Reporter Allison Cross has this to say,
Saturday, August 30, 2008Besides his neurosurgery practice at Western Hospital, Guha runs a research laboratory and lectures frequently, but says he enjoys returning to Calcutta for humanitarian work.
For the past 10 years, he has helped run a hospital in India that treats poor residents, and hopes to help open another facility with 150 beds within the next year.
"I'm hopeful," he said of his condition. "I've had one strike against me with this chemotherapy not working. But there's still hope that this could be a curable thing."
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