Tracy Needs You: Two Ways to Save a Life

Dear Friends,

It’s been nearly two years now since my wife and best friend Tracy Jalbuena was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of immune cells in the blood. Here’s the good news: thanks to attentive care at Pen Bay Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Tracy is disabled but in remission for now.

While she’s in remission, as long as it lasts, Tracy’s got a sparkle in her eye and a smile on her face. People who see her on the street say to her, “you look great!” (I agree). The insidious nature of multiple myeloma, though, is that it attacks her beneath the skin: her bones, her blood, her immune system have been repeatedly assaulted, and she’s been on constant chemotherapy for 22 months with no end in sight.  She won’t tell you this if you meet her on the street, but she’s sore, she’s sick and she’s so very tired — and that’s while she’s in the relatively smooth patch of remission.

Tracy and our kids and I have been trying to embrace a normal-like life as long as this remission lasts.  Tracy’s spending as much time with the kids as she can.  She’s taking walks, singing in a community chorus, and doing community service for our local EMS services — but while she’s doing this, and while we her family are at her side, we’re looking over our shoulders with this fact in mind: even with medical advances, median time to death is only four to six years for myeloma cancer patients.  The cancerous cells in myeloma are persistent, maybe even clever: they adapt and change to whatever treatment we throw at her.  Tracy’s remission will inevitably, eventually, fail.

Right now there’s just one treatment that offers a hope of a cure — a bone marrow transplant. Tracy’s eligible for the treatment, but she needs a special person who matches her very rare bone marrow type — and in two years of searching we haven’t been able to find anyone with marrow quite like hers. YOU or YOUR FRIEND could be the one.  You could save her life.

Please, for Tracy, for our two kids, and for me too, could you do two simple, easy things?

1. Are you between the ages of 18-44? If you haven’t already, visit http://bethematch.org/join and sign up to receive a testing kit in the mail. It’s simple, free, and painless (really! just a cheek swab). This test will let the National Bone Marrow Registry know what type of bone marrow you have, and if you match Tracy or someone else, they’ll give you a call and let you know.  If you match Tracy or someone else who’s sick and in need, you can donate some of your bone marrow cells WITHOUT SURGERY (it’s a bit like a blood donation — find out more here).

2. Can you let 4 or 5 friends know, too?  Share this message with them on Facebook, or by text message, or by e-mail, or in a face-to-face talk.  Your message is simple: visit http://bethematch.org to get a free, painless test kit and find out whether they’re the special person who can save someone’s life.

These two simple steps would mean so much to me, my kids, and all the people who’ve met Tracy and know how special she is.   Thank you!

LOVE BETWEEN GENERATIONS

1978, Ma-asin, Iloilo, Philippines

Daniel and Tracy Jalbuena with their beloved Lolo, Dr. N. Jalbuena, Sr.

Lolo was a country physician who kept his records on a notepad in his pocket and made house calls on a motorcycle.  Many times his patients paid him in chickens or were unable to pay at all.  He treated everybody who came to the door.  Lolo and sweet Lola loved their American grandchildren very much and would be so sad to know that Tracy has blood cancer and desperately needs a matching donor for a stem cell transplant.   Who would have thought that our blended lineages … Filipino and Irish-German … would one day limit Tracy’s very life?  The critical shortage of mixed race marrow donors is a public health issue for Asian and Filipino Americans.   Tracy, honey, I will not give up praying and searching for your life saving marrow donor!

Ever Lovin’ Mom

#MissUniverse2015 #PiaAlonzoWurtzbach #MissUniverseSavingTracy #bethematch #match4Lara #swabnation #aadp #bethematch

A FAIRY TALE

Once upon a magical time, a young girl was loving life and growing in body and soul.  She was the eldest of four children born to a Filipino physician and an Irish/German nurse.  This young lady was determined and had carefully laid out plans for herself.  She then set out to accomplish those dreams.

Time passed.  She advanced in age and married her college sweetheart.  Two delightful children were born to the couple, during which time the young mother whizzed through medical school and residency training.

The family settled in a small village where the father became a college teacher and the mother an Emergency Room physician, caring for the townspeople in their time of illness.  Two years went by and the family nestled into village life, making friends and contributing to the health and welfare of the townsfolk.  As a village doctor, she was sought out and loved by patients and colleagues alike.

Suddenly something bad happened.  The doctor-wife-mother became very sick herself.  Strangely, she was not able to receive the best treatment for her illness simply because of her charming and rare Filipino and Irish/German background. Yes, a stem cell transplant would only be successful if a person of similar background agreed to donate a few stem cells from their healthy bone marrow to hers.  There was no one in the village or around the known world whose marrow “matched” the marrow of the young doctor.  No one to save her from the terrible sickness that had befallen her.

This is where the fairy tale ends.

Until someone of Filipino-American-European background is willing to be a hero and save the day!  Someone who can swoop in and rescue the young damsel through marrow donation.   No cape or super powers needed.  A few stem cells is all it takes.  A desire to do good and help a fair maiden.

#bethematch #match4lara #MissUniverseSavingTracy #PiaAlonzoWurtzbach    #swabnation #FilipinoAmerican #asianamericandonorprogram

#MissUniverseSavingTracy

There is one entity on the planet that has the power to change the course for very sick mixed heritage patients at this moment in time.  The Miss Universe Organization and Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach!  The followers of Pia adore her, they attend to every word and follow every announcement with keen interest. She is a phenomenon!  Imagine what could happen if Miss Universe 2015 advocated for young people, especially of mixed race, to give of themselves by joining the bone marrow registry!

Pia is so lovely, humble and kind.  She is the perfect one, by virtue of her Filipino/German ancestry and her magnetic personality, to rally her fans to step up and save lives!  Pia herself might be a “match” for someone!  It would be a magnificent FIRST and go down in history as the ultimate selfless act by a Miss Universe!  Ever.

A quote from Pia,  “I am very persistent.  When I have a goal, that goal is fixed.  I don’t negotiate my goals! Be patient, work hard and don’t give up!”

These words strike a chord with me, because I have the same mantra.  I am Tracy’s mother and I am persistent and patient.  I will move mountains to find a life saving heroine for my daughter.  My goal is fixed, and that goal is to make a marrow transplant possible for Tracy and give her a chance to live!

I appeal to the Miss Universe Organization, and to Pia directly, to adopt bone marrow recruitment as a platform issue.  It is a natural “match”!

Pia + BE THE MATCH = Saving Lives

#MissUniverseSavingTracy                                                                     #MissUniverse2015                                                                                       #FilipinoAmerican                                                                                                         #fahm2016                                                                                                   #PiaAlonzoWurtzbach                                                         #AsianAmericanDonorProgram                                                                     bethematch.org

 

Collegemates

IU College friends reunite for Tracy & James’ wedding, 1997                                   Julie, Tracy, Saudia

Tracy has blood cancer and desperately needs a matching stem cell donor to survive.   Who would have thought that her lovely blended ancestry would one day limit her very life?  Someone with similar ancestry will be the ONE who can save this young woman’s life.

Miss Universe 2015, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, please accept this invitation to join us and help increase diversity in the marrow donor registry using your unique Filipino German lineage and your world stage.  Salamat and may God bless you!

#MissUniverse2015                                                                                   #MissUniverseSavingTracy                                                                                             #bethematch.org                                                                   #ConfidentlyBeautifulWithAHeart

 

 

Dreams Come True

Dear Miss Universe 2015,

You show the world what it means to be beautiful, inside and out.  You carry yourself with grace and poise, even under unexpected pressure.   Confidently beautiful with a heart!  The lovely, compassionate Filipina is the pride of her country mates.  A dream has come true and now you embark on a time of new experiences and service.

Dear Pia, it will be your privilege and honor, by virtue of your God-given beauty and talents, to serve humanity.

I am a woman with a dream in my heart, as well.  My daughter, Tracy Jalbuena, needs a hero to save her life.  She has blood cancer and is desperately in need of a stem cell/marrow transplant to survive.  There is no “match” for my precious Tracy because of her unique heritage of Filipino and German lineage.  A donor with similar ethnicity may be the ONE who can “match” and save a young woman’s life.  Donors of Asian and mixed ancestry are in dire shortage.

Pia, there can be no more noble an effort to take up than marrow donor recruitment!  A gift of a few stem cells from one to another.  Simple and profound.  Much simpler for the donor than in the past and so vital and life giving for the patient!!!

What a timely and fitting opportunity for you and the Miss Universe organization.  Personal and compelling.  Personal, in the sweet kinship between you and patients like Tracy.  And compelling, in the moving stories of those who search for, and who have found, their hero donors.  This is a natural “match”!  PIA and BE THE MATCH!

Salamat and God bless from mom with a dream!

#MissUniverse2015                                                                     #MissUniverseSavingTracy                                         #ConfidentlyBeautifulWithAHeart                                                                 #BeTheMatch

MISS UNIVERSE SAVING TRACY

Dear Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015,

Show the world what it means to be beautiful inside and out.  You are so gracious and so lovely.  I just know you could help save a precious life using your platform.

#MissUniverseSavingTracy #MissUniversalDonor #BeTheMatch

 

 

 

MISS UNIVERSE SAVING TRACY ?

More than one year has passed since we began the search for Tracy’s marrow “match” for her to survive blood cancer.   There have been two close calls, so we know that something GOOD is coming soon in 2016 !!  And that something may have international connections.

You may have seen this.  Beautiful Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, has won the crown and sash of Miss Universe in a suspenseful pageant contest.   It happens that Tracy shares something lovely and exquisite with Pia Alonzo.  Not only are they both gorgeous, but they share their mixed Filipino and German lineage.   Like kindred sisters.   Like marrow mates?

Hereby begins an effort to catch onto the star of Miss Universe and her team and invite their help.

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, would you kindly consider joining BeTheMatch.org and becoming a potential donor for your sister, Tracy Jalbuena?  Or for someone else waiting for a match? AND, no less importantly, would you take up the cause of marrow donor recruitment for Asian Americans and mixed minority patients who are desperate for a cure.

Miss Universe, you have a special ability, by virtue of your beautifully blended ancestry and your international platform, TO. SAVE. LIVES.  What a privilege and an honor.  If you choose to take it.   We have faith that if only our Fil AM compatriots knew of the severe shortage of marrow donors for brothers and sisters in need, they would respond in great numbers.  Pia, that power is within your reach.  The media are waiting for your ideas. A platform of marrow donor recruitment and saving lives!  Personal and compelling!

Okay, readers, here is where you can help.  Please share our appeal to Miss Universe over all social media outlets.  Please use these hashtags freely:

#PiaSavingTracy  #PiaWillYouBeTheMatch  #MissUniverseWillYouBeTheMatch  #MissUniverseWillYouBeTheMatch

 

 

 

LITTLE SOLDIER STEM CELLS by mom

Soon it will be one year that we have been searching for a match, a marrow mate, for Tracy.   I feel like I have been walking around the streets in cyberspace wearing a sandwich board which says, “BE THE MATCH”.   For a year.

There is no limit to a mother’s love and this mom will not give up.   BE THE MATCH has made available to me a community engagement representative and a personal coach with whom I talk on the phone regularly.  The professional folks at BE THE MATCH take patients and families under their wings with comfort and advice while we wait for that sweet “match” for Tracy.  They are grand!!

Donors are treated with the same care and kindness.  Every consideration is given to donors when they are found to be a match for a patient.  There is no cost for them and BE THE MATCH has even paid for transportation, child care, pet sitting and any other need of someone who is so generous to give a bit of themselves for the life of another.  The experience is made as easy as possible. Each donor is a hero deserving of kid gloves and utmost respect.

To the followers of this blog:   Many thanks for loyally staying tuned, for sharing our plea and for participating in the search for Tracy’s very own hero!   Big kudos to those of you who have committed to being marrow donors by joining the registry; you are already life savers in my mind!

When our kids were small I used to tell them that there were little soldiers inside of them who needed really healthy food to take care of business in their bodies. Well, guess what?  Tracy needs some tough guy ‘Manny Pacquio’ stem cell soldiers to vanquish this #%/#*# myeloma!!   And she needs to borrow them from someone.  Manny, where are you?

 

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

Tracy has blood cancer.  Amy very much wants to donate marrow stem cells to her big sister for the only chance of a cure through a transplant.  But Amy cannot be Tracy’s life saver because they do not “match” closely enough.  Neither do their adoring brothers match with her.  Imagine if you were called upon to to save your sister’s or brother’s life, but were unable to do it.  This family is hurting right now.

We rely on the goodness and selflessness of our Filipino American friends to help.  You see, Tracy dad is Filipino (from Iloilo) and her mom has European lineage.   A match will most likely be found among those of Filipino or mixed Fil Am heritage.  No one presently in the National Marrow Registry of 11 million people is a match!!!  So Tracy waits and waits.  And takes more chemo.

Meanwhile, the one person who can save her is not aware of the awesome gift they hold within themselves.  Would you like to know if it is you?  Or someone in your family?  For those age 18-44, it is easy, painless and free to find out.  Just go to bethematch.org and get on the donor list.  Click on “join”, fill out a simple application and send for a free cheek swab kit in the mail.  Only 1 out of 540 people on the donor list will get the call that they are a match for a patient, and if that happens to you, it will be a moving, life-changing experience!  And LIFE SAVING for the recipient!!  Like the lovely young woman featured here.

Salamat and may God bless us, one and all!