HAFTR gears up to save a life

Bone marrow testing drive seeks a donor, quickly

By Malka Eisenberg

The Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaways (HAFTR) High School will host an emergency bone marrow drive this Sunday, November 29th, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in an attempt to locate a possible donor for Alan Cohen of Westchester.

“It only involves a cheek swab to get tested,” explained Jay Feinberg, executive director of the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, a sponsor of the event. “It just takes a few minutes to tissue type them and put it in the registry. It’s extremely urgent; time is very critical. He [Alan] needs the transplant before the end of the year.”

Cohen’s condition was discovered when he went for a routine blood test prior to a colonoscopy. He learned that he was slightly anemic and, concerned about a relative’s diagnosis following a similar blood test, he pressured the internist to direct him to a hematologist. A bone marrow biopsy revealed a diagnosis of AML-acute myeloid leukemia, a bone marrow cancer that grows from cells that usually become white blood cells. Cohen had chemotherapy and is now in remission for, in his words, “a brief period.”

The only cure for the cancer is a bone marrow transplant; the goal of the drive is to find a matching donor before Cohen requires more chemotherapy.

Feinberg said that it’s best if a patient is in remission at the time of a transplant since he will have the least number of leukemic cells in the bloodstream at that time. The more cancerous cells a patient has, the more cells that need to be destroyed.

HAFTR ran a very successful bone marrow drive in 2002, according to Jonathan Nierenberg, senior vice president at IDT Corporation and a Woodmere resident who worked on the drive. 2,500 people were tested and 23 donor matches were made from the one-day event.

“We are looking to break that record,” he said. “This is a numbers game and the only way we can solve the conundrum is by testing as many people as possible.”

“I’d like to commend the community on the turn out of the last drive,” Nierenberg continued. “I want to thank the community for all they’ve done; Rabbi Billet and other community rabbis were instrumental in the positive turnout.  And thanks to HAFTR for donating their facilities.”

This past Shabbat morning Rabbi Herschel Billet called on members of the Young Israel of Woodmere to get tested in the bone marrow drive.

Dr. Adam Lish, another volunteer, hoped that “G-d willing, we will have a similar success.”

People who were tested in the 1990s have to be tested again, Feinberg stressed. The previous test only tested for four of six antigens, he explained, thus potential donors were not fully “typed.” Those swabbed in the 2002 drive would not have to be retested now. If a donor was called and went for further testing after the initial swab they would have been fully typed. To check your status, email info@giftoflife.org or call 800-9MARROW.

There is no charge for testing since the Gift of Life organization is paying from funds raised for the drive, but donations are welcome.

“Contributions to keep the ball rolling to continue testing are very important,” Feinberg explained.

Right now, Cohen said he doesn’t have a match and his back-up plan is a transplant from cord blood stem cells.

“A good enough match from a donor is my best hope. I have to find out before I have to make a less ideal choice, that’s where the timing and urgency come in.”

“I hope this helps me and helps many others,” explained Cohen. “I’m a fighter. Other than becoming a doctor, nurse or fireman as a career, I don’t know of any other opportunity to save lives. You get a cheek swab, get a call, save a life. I think it might help me; it will certainly help other people. I’m a father, son, brother, husband. I’m married 23 years. I believe I’m a good person; I have bad luck. I hope to overcome it.”

Donors should be between the ages of 18 and 60. The bone marrow drive will take place at HAFTR High School at 635 Central Ave, Cedarhurst, NY. For further information contact Dr. Adam Lish at (516) 374-7296, Ben Zion Fuchs at (917) 863-5723, or Michelle Segelnick at HAFTR at (516) 569-3370 x104. Volunteers to help out during the drive should email helpsavealan@gmail.com.

If you can’t make it but would like to be tested you can order a kit online at giftoflife.org and enter the promo code SAVEALAN so you won’t have to pay. Click on the bottom to register as a donor.

To include Alan Cohen on tehillim lists, his name is Aharon ben Leah.

Questions or comments? Contact Malka Eisenberg at newsroom@thejewishstar.com