Hale Pai
Pacific American News Journal
Mei-May 1996 Volume 2 Issue 5
Alana Needs Your Kokua
By Laurie Chang Chun
San Jose, CA
I’m writing to ask your help in
saving the life of my little cousin, Alana
Dung. She’s only 23 months old and has been diagnosed
with leukemia.
Unfortunately, she only has two months to live. Her only hope is to receive a bone marrow transplant.
Alana and others in Hawai`i, as well as on the mainland, are looking for bone marrow that match theirs.
for instance, Brandon Emley, a 2nd grader at Punahou and Chris Pablo, a father of three children, are also in need of bone marrow transplants in Hawai`i.
Because bone marrow traits are inherited similar to eye, hair, and skin color, the patients best match is a family member. Unfortunately Alana and other patients did not find a match within their families. The bone marrow registry is their only hope in locating an unrelated matching donor. By encouraging a large number of people of all ethnic backgrounds and racially mixed ancestry to donate, the registry may be able to serve more patients like Alana. The more people that join the registry, the better. For example, the baseball player and Hall of Fame recipient Rod Carew, recently lost his daughter to leukemia. Although he was able to sign up 70,000 people to the registry, none was a match. It is especially difficult to find a match because Carew’s daughter was of mixed ancestry, as are many people from Hawaii. Please help by becoming a donor registrant!
All it takes is two tablespoons of blood and 15 minutes of your time. It’s a pretty simple way to help save someone’s life.
If you’re in the San Jose area, please call the American Red Cross to make an appointment. Call (408) 577-2154 and speak to Denise.
If you are located anywhere else, e-mail me at: lchun@qntm.com to find out the closest location.
Also, Alana has a home page that just went up, you can find out more about Alana, see a photo and check all the Hawaii locations that are accepting bone marrow registrants. The adddress is: http://www.hula.net/~idc/alana.html(This URL does not exist anymore, ed.)
Please help by sending e-mail to anyone you know. Anything you can do to help is appreciated. Also, please e-mail me at: lchun@qntm.com if you join the registry. (Alana’s parents would like to know so they can expedite the search process.) Or write to Hale Pai, 3600 15th Ave W Suite 206, Seattle, WA 98119.
Mahalo Nui Loa
Alana Dung
- Age:
23 months. Born May 20, 1994
- Ethnicity:
Chinese
- Family:
Parents, Stephen Dung and Adelia Chung, brother, Spencer Dung, age 6
- Home:
Honolulu, Hawaii
- Illness:
- Acute myeloid, type M-7. This is a rare form of leukemia and is the only case in Hawaii.
- Time Frame:
Diagnosed on Good Friday, April 5, 1996. Doctors have informed the family that Alana has two months to live without a bone marrow transplant.
- Treatment:
She is scheduled to undergo treatment on June 3. Hopefully it will be a bone marrow transplant if a donor is found. If not, a more risky treatment is required. This will take place at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research in Seattle.
- Condition:
Although too weak to walk, Alana still smiles and laughs. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
- Chances of matching an Asian donor:
1 in 19,000
- Chances of matching a non-Asian donor:
1 in 20,000
- Chances of survival with a bone marrow transplant:
70 percent
- Situation:
Currently there is an extensive effort in Hawaii to encourage people of all ethnicities to become bone marrow registrants. There have been four drives in Hawaii which has resulted in 5,00 new registrants. Alana’s only hope is to have a number of people entered in the registry in a very short time frame. I am trying to encourage all minorities in the mainland U.S. to enter in the bone marrow registry.