WATCH ABOVE: After searching for more than two months for a bone marrow donor, Montreal leukemia patient Mai Duong has found a compatible cord blood donor. It’s not the perfect solution, but doctor’s say it’s the next best thing. Rachel Lau has details.
MONTREAL – After months of fighting a deadly leukemia, Mai Duong’s doctors have finally given her some good news.
It’s all thanks to a mother, who donated her newborn child’s umbilical cord blood.
“A mom is saving another mom’s life,” said Duong, with tears in her eyes.
“To have that heart to give the umbilical cord – because otherwise it’s going to be tossed in the garbage – she decided to do more and she is going to potentially save my life.”
Duong had been searching for a bone marrow transplant, but the chances of getting a 10 on 10 match were slim.
Her doctors decided to turn to alternative methods.
When Global News last visited Duong, she was in isolation because she had a weakened immune system.
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Two months later, the word ‘hope’ holds a whole new meaning for Duong and her family.
“Just quality family time,” said Vlad Stesin, Duong’s husband.
“It doesn’t take much,” he added. “It doesn’t have to be anything big; just doing small things is good enough for us.”
Duong will go back in isolation for one week of intense chemotherapy and radiation therapy before her transplant.
She’ll stay there for another three to four weeks in case of complications.
Then, she’ll be under observation for at least another year.
“There are unfortunately many risks associated with transplants,” explained Cohen.
While the search for a compatible bone marrow donor proved to be impossible, it wasn’t that much easier to find a cord blood donor.
Of the 16 million donors worldwide, only one per cent of the donor bank is of Asian origin.
“We need to have more people that are non-Caucasian to enlist in those registries worldwide,” said Laurent-Paul Menard, a spokesperson for Hema-Quebec.
“This is the main issue that we have to deal with.”
Duong still has a long way to go before her life returns to normal.
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“We’re not crying victory just yet,” said Stesin.
“It’s going to be very tough, a lot of risks involved. There are a lot of things that could be going wrong, so we’re cautiously optimistic.”
Nevertheless, the family is more than ready to battle on until she gets there.
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