'Be The Match' and save a life
Lead Summary
By
Caitlin Forsha-crforsha@gmail.com
Taking just a few minutes to donate a cheek swab or a blood sample and join the Be The Match bone marrow registry could eventually save the life of a cancer patient. One Hillsboro family hopes a Be The Match event in Leesburg this month will find a bone marrow donor for a young husband and father.
Brandon Barrett, 26, was re-diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in March 2012 after being in remission for nearly a year. Barrett and his wife, Cassandra, who will celebrate their sixth anniversary together this month, were married Feb. 14, 2010. He was diagnosed with cancer just five months later. Brandon Barrett is a graduate of Hillsboro High School, while his wife is a Whiteoak High School graduate. The Barretts also have custody of Cassandra's younger siblings, as she has raised her sister and brother for nearly five years. Miranda, 13, and Richard, 11, are Hillsboro Middle School students.
"Brandon is a very outgoing person and tries to help everyone that he can," Cassandra Barrett said. "The kids are a huge part of his life, and we look at them as our own."
Since his original diagnosis, Barrett has undergone chemotherapy treatments, both in the hospital and outpatient, his wife said. His doctors have told him that a bone marrow transplant is his only chance at curing the disease, which affects the lymph nodes, liver and spleen.
According to the website of the Be The Match registry, formerly known as the National Marrow Donor Program, there are thousands of patients with blood cancers and other disorders awaiting a bone marrow transplant. Someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer every four minutes.
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A Be The Match drive will be held Saturday, Jan. 12 from noon - 4 p.m. at the Leesburg Fire House, 200 South St. Monetary donations are also welcome and accepted and will be used to benefit the Be The Match Registry organization.
Determining whether an individual is a match is a quick process that involves getting your cheek swabbed and filling out a few medical forms. Barrett said that you do not have to bring medical records or other documents.
The bone marrow drive is open to all adults ages 18-44 in good health; according to Be The Match, doctors choose registry members in that age range over 90 percent of the time. Barrett said that older adults are also welcome to come, and they will be given information on having a kit sent to their house to get checked.
Joining the registry is a commitment that involves trying to find any possible bone marrow recipient that is a match, not just Barrett. According to the Be The Match website, "one in every 540 members of Be The Match Registry in the United States will go on to donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells to a patient."
"It is important for people to come out and get swabbed because this is going to save his life, if we find a match," Barrett said.
"The bone marrow transplant is the last step for him to be in 100-percent remission."
Brandon Barrett's brother and sister have been tested, but his wife said that neither sibling is a match for a bone marrow transplant. Barrett has been on the donor registry for approximately three months in hopes of finding a bone marrow donor.
"They aren't having any luck finding a match, so this is our only shot," Barrett said.
To find out more information on bone marrow donation, visit the Be The Match organization website at www.marrow.org.
Brandon Barrett, 26, was re-diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in March 2012 after being in remission for nearly a year. Barrett and his wife, Cassandra, who will celebrate their sixth anniversary together this month, were married Feb. 14, 2010. He was diagnosed with cancer just five months later. Brandon Barrett is a graduate of Hillsboro High School, while his wife is a Whiteoak High School graduate. The Barretts also have custody of Cassandra's younger siblings, as she has raised her sister and brother for nearly five years. Miranda, 13, and Richard, 11, are Hillsboro Middle School students.
"Brandon is a very outgoing person and tries to help everyone that he can," Cassandra Barrett said. "The kids are a huge part of his life, and we look at them as our own."
Since his original diagnosis, Barrett has undergone chemotherapy treatments, both in the hospital and outpatient, his wife said. His doctors have told him that a bone marrow transplant is his only chance at curing the disease, which affects the lymph nodes, liver and spleen.
According to the website of the Be The Match registry, formerly known as the National Marrow Donor Program, there are thousands of patients with blood cancers and other disorders awaiting a bone marrow transplant. Someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer every four minutes.
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A Be The Match drive will be held Saturday, Jan. 12 from noon - 4 p.m. at the Leesburg Fire House, 200 South St. Monetary donations are also welcome and accepted and will be used to benefit the Be The Match Registry organization.
Determining whether an individual is a match is a quick process that involves getting your cheek swabbed and filling out a few medical forms. Barrett said that you do not have to bring medical records or other documents.
The bone marrow drive is open to all adults ages 18-44 in good health; according to Be The Match, doctors choose registry members in that age range over 90 percent of the time. Barrett said that older adults are also welcome to come, and they will be given information on having a kit sent to their house to get checked.
Joining the registry is a commitment that involves trying to find any possible bone marrow recipient that is a match, not just Barrett. According to the Be The Match website, "one in every 540 members of Be The Match Registry in the United States will go on to donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells to a patient."
"It is important for people to come out and get swabbed because this is going to save his life, if we find a match," Barrett said.
"The bone marrow transplant is the last step for him to be in 100-percent remission."
Brandon Barrett's brother and sister have been tested, but his wife said that neither sibling is a match for a bone marrow transplant. Barrett has been on the donor registry for approximately three months in hopes of finding a bone marrow donor.
"They aren't having any luck finding a match, so this is our only shot," Barrett said.
To find out more information on bone marrow donation, visit the Be The Match organization website at www.marrow.org.