Healing off camera
"ER's" Laura Innes, who adopted
her daughter, Mia, from China some four years ago, has
taken to heart the story of Kailee Wells, a Chinese adoptee
who contracted aplastic anemia at age 5 in 2002 -- starting
her family on a desperate search for a bone marrow donor
match.
"My daughter is in good health, thankfully," says Innes.
"For any adoptee it's more difficult to find a marrow
transplant, but only 25 percent of the donors in the bone
marrow registry are minorities, and only six percent of
that are Asians. Tens of thousands of people affected by
diseases from leukemia to sickle cell and aplastic anemia
could be cured if they had a donor match -- and these days,
the test for it is a swab from inside your cheek, that's
all it entails. Then you're in the registry, available to
be matched." If matched and called upon to donate marrow,
she says, "It takes literally a couple of hours and a
little discomfort" -- a very small price to save someone's
life.
Kailee's family finally found a match in China. According
to Innes, the National Marrow Donor Program is working
internationally to raise awareness and opportunities.
Mother's Day weekend, May 13 and 14, there will be "Thanks,
Mom" bone marrow registration drives in more than 100
locations around the country. (More information is
available through http://kaileegetwells.com.) Innes adds
that the need for donors hit closer to home as well. "We
have a colleague at work -- a crew member whose son was
diagnosed with leukemia. He also didn't have a family
member who matched, but was able to find one through the
marrow bank."