Shahin's Message پیام شاهین

Would you consider becoming a stem cell donor?

Dear friends and family: 

As many of you might know, last spring I was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of Lymphoma. Unfortunately, my doctors have now discovered that I have developed a second form of Lymphoma, as well as severe immunodeficiency as a result of the disease.

For those of you who may have been forwarded this email, I am 57 years old, a doctor of neurology, and the Founder and Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYP- Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.

Although, I am receiving excellent care at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC, at this point, my ONLY hope of survival is a “stem cell transplant” from the blood of a healthy compatible donor, which would create a new immune system in my body within the next few months.

The odds of finding a suitable match among people of the same ethnic background are far greater, but sadly, donors of Iranian/Persian ethnicity are far and few in the databanks. And so, I am reaching out to you.

The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) is a registry for volunteers who have their data saved in case their stem cells or bone marrow can save a patient like me. Today, their Be The Match® (https://bethematch.org) registry of donors for patients who need a hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) has grown to include support for all types of cellular therapy. 

Be The Match® is focused on donors aged 18-44. If you are in good health and willing to be tested as a potential donor, you can find all the information about being tested and the process of donating here: join the registry online. Or you can join in person at a donor registry drive.  

After you join, they sent you a kit for a gum swab and determination of “HLA typing”. Other factors eg blood type don’t matter. Returning the kit is all you need to do. Next time that MSK hospital runs a search on my behalf, if you are a match you will be found! The process itself will include the extraction of certain cells from the blood, during a short “ultrafiltration” process, and not a bone marrow or blood transfusion per se. This will be done at a center close to you or at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC.

Please consider volunteering to be a donor; not just for me and my survival, but for humanity and all patients of our ethnic background whose lives can be saved.

Please feel free to spread the word…….

With all my best,

Shahin

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Shahin Nouri M.D.