A second chance
More than 11 years separate 14-year-old Balch Springs resident Angelica Gomez and her sister Lorena, but the two share a closeness few others can claim. In April of 2006, then two-year-old Lorena saved Angelica's life.
That year, doctors at Children's Medical Center Dallas diagnosed Angelica with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer. At 13. The diagnosis was difficult for the Gomez family to accept, even more so when traditional therapies failed.
From a letter Angelica wrote:
Hi, my name is Angelica Virginia Gomez. I'm 13, and I have acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Yeah, pretty shocking news, I know! I was very scared for a while until I found out more about it. And the fact that it wasn't just me going through it. I found out that many kids get this cancer, old or young. I'm OK with this now because I have learned to deal with it and put it behind me. I mean I still have it, but I have learned to forget about it.
Doctors decided a bone marrow transplant was the best treatment for her cancer. This procedure would rid Angelica of her own unhealthy blood cells and replace them with healthy blood-forming cells from a volunteer donor. Because tissue type is inherited, patients are most likely to match someone of their same race and ethnicity, and there is a 25% chance that an immediate family member will match. Angelica is one of four children. She has two older brothers and one younger sister.
Then one day the doctors told me and my mom that in order for the cancer to stay away I would need a bone marrow transplant. I never told anyone this, but I got very excited that day (even though it sounded scary). Well, now I feel much better because I got my bone marrow transplant (April 19, 2006) ... from my two-year-old sister, Lorena Alexandra Gomez. I felt so lucky the day they told me that she would be my donor because they say that not very many people get donors who are related to them and that there is one in a million chances that they will find a donor who is compatible. I was scared at first because I thought she would get hurt or be in a lot of pain. She came out OK and was fine. There was nothing to be afraid of anymore. Now it was time to do my thing, which was to get the bone marrow into me and let it work. Once in, I was so happy because they let me see my sister, and I felt like I started a new life that day.
Sadly, 70% of patients who need a transplant to survive do not have a suitable donor in the family. Most patients who need a bone marrow transplant will look to the National Marrow Donor Program which maintains an international registry of more than six million volunteer donors. It is not uncommon for a bone marrow match to be found, harvested and couriered from halfway across the globe.
I want to thank the doctors, nurses, my family and the members of the Highland Park United Methodist Church. I am very, very happy that people care so much about me. Now I tell my mom that I have two birthdays. One on November 23, 1992 and one on April 19, 2006. Oh yeah, me and my sister are doing just fine. Besides, there will come a day when she will find out that she saved me, and that she will know that she'll always be my hero. And as a gift, I have made a decision to make a wish that will grant her wish of becoming a princess herself. My wish is to take her to Disney World to meet many princess characters to get her many princess things like toys, dolls, shoes and much more! Lorena should have lots of fun there and that would make me really excited. I mean to have her, my sister happy. On June 1, 2006 I found out that my sister's bone marrow had completely gotten into my body and it feels great!
Every year on Valentine's Day, Children's Medical Center Dallas hosts the Be a Matchmaker Bone Marrow Donor Drive. During this drive from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., volunteer donors can join the registry for free. This year, the process is even easier. All it takes to get registered and potentially save a life is a cotton swab of the mouth to determine a donor's tissue type. The registry is open to healthy people between the ages of 18 and 60, and there is a distinct need for ethnic and racial minorities, who are under-represented on the registry.
This article is to show other kids with cancer that they don't have to be afraid, and that they will always have a second chance. And if they don't, I will always have them in my prayers.
Angelica is in full remission from her leukemia, and Lorena is a proud little sister.
Tags: health
