Kick It Kalo!

Hi all -

Some of you may remember Layla Grace, a little girl I discovered who was fighting stage 4 neuroblastoma. Unfortunately Layla lost her battle in March of this year at the tender age of 2 - her parents have set up a foundation in her name, and are doing fundraisers in Houston, where they are from. You can check out more information on her parents' blog at http://laylagrace.org/

I have another very small blood cancer patient that I just learned about via my cousin, Noel. His name is Mikalo, or Kalo for short, and he is a 4 year old from Boston who is currently in his second fight with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). On March 19th of this year, Kalo received a bone marrow transplant, which damn well may have saved his life. You can read more about Kalo's story here: http://www.kickitkalo.com/kickitkalo/Welcome.html

This got me thinking. I plan to read up on bone marrow transplants, and become registered as a potential donor after this marathon. 70% of blood cancer patients don't have a suitable donor in their family - SEVENTY PERCENT. That has to be unbelievably frustrating. If I could give my Grandpa every organ in my body, I would - we know he isn't eligible for a transplant due to his age, but if he were and I couldn't give it to him, I wouldn't stop until I found someone who could.

So, I want to help. The more involved I get in TNT and the more stories I hear about patients and treatments and research, the more I want to do. I don't know if I'll ever be a match for someone, but in the off chance that I am, I want to look into making it happen. For any expectant mothers out there, you can also donate cord blood, so please consider it as part of your birth plan. If you're interested in learning if you might be a match for a patient out there, and if you're between ages 18 and 60, you can join the Be The Match registry. Go here to learn more: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/FAQs_about_Joining_the_Registry/index.html

I just encourage all of you to not let your involvement stop with a read through of this blog or a one-time donation of your money. You can always give more, you can always do more. Please stay connected to this cause. I'll leave you with thoughts from one of our TNT campaign coordinators, Shawn, who has since left NYC but her awesome energy remains here in our amazing city:

Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can.
In all the places you can.
At all the times you can.
To all the people you can.
As long as ever you can.