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• ABOUT Marissa-Eve Ayala Resear

  • From: anissa
  • Description:

     

    Join us to find a cure for blood cancers and to honor my sister through the Marissa-Eve Ayala Research Grant Fund.

    At age 16, I was diagnosed with leukemia and a bone marrow transplant was given as her only option for survival. Since no bone marrow donor match was available, my parents, then in their 40s, chose to conceive a child in hopes that he or she would be a matching donor.

    You may remember this Time Magazine cover story from June 17, 1991 (left).  Born in 1991, my baby sister Marissa-Eve was indeed a match.  At 14 months old, Marissa-Eve provided me with a life-saving bone marrow donation.

    I have been cancer-free since that life-changing bone-marrow transplant 17 years ago.  Marissa-Eve was unharmed by the procedure and is today a healthy 18-year-old; she and I are the best of friends. 
    
    Today, I work as the Business Development Director for the Orange County/Inland Empire Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, having dedicated my career to fighting blood cancers and helping those in similar situations to hers. 
    
    Once again Marissa-Eve is by my side, this time as a young adult who can use her voice and her story to help those in need. 

    
    

    ABC-TV "Good Morning America" ON-AIR ANNOUNCEMENT
    

    WATCH THE VIDEO on the ABC-TV "Good Morning America" website from the appearance of Anissa and Marissa-Eve in announcing this new funding initiative.

    Having One Child to Save Another

    Marissa Ayala Knows Better Than Most About Having a Purpose in Life

    By CHRIS CUOMO and LEE FERRAN
    July 31, 2008

    "What is the purpose of life?" It is perhaps the grandest question ever pondered by man and the possible answers have divided the world for thousands of years.

    Marissa Ayala is pretty certain of the answer, however, at least in her case.

    She was born to save her older sister Anissa who, after being diagnosed with leukemia at age 16, desperately needed a bone marrow transplant.

    After a year of unsuccessful cancer treatment and similarly disappointing public pleas to find a bone marrow match for Anissa, her parents made an unusual, controversial decision to have another child in hopes that that baby could provide the life-saving marrow.

    Nearly two decades later, Anissa, 36, is perfectly healthy and owes her life directly to her 18-year-old sister, Marissa.

     

    "It was really difficult for my parents at the time," Anissa said in an interview with "Good Morning America." "I think that having another child was something that I was really, really excited about. It gave me something to live for -- to be a big sister."

    After the decision was made, her father, Abe Ayala, had a 14-year-old vasectomy reversed, and her mother, Mary Ayala, conceived Marissa. But they did not find out whether the child's marrow would match until Mary was six months pregnant.

     

    "It was like Christmas," Mary Ayala said when she learned the bone marrow was compatible. "It was a wonderful, wonderful feeling. I couldn't believe that she matched perfectly."

    While the Marissa's birth brought tears of joy to her family, it also brought sharp criticism from some who questioned the ethics of having one child to save another.

    "When you have a little child who's going to be a donor of an organ like bone marrow, you have a sense that the child is being created for that purpose and really doesn't participate in that choice," Alexander Capron, professor of law and medicine at the University of Southern California.   Marissa, who is only two years older than her sister was when she found out she had cancer, is still working to define herself beyond the moniker of her sister's savior.

    "I'm pretty much immune to everything, like the whole story -- my friends knowing, my classmates knowing, everyone knowing ... But I don't really like talking about it," she told "Good Morning America." "I want to be me. That's not my whole life and it's a part of me but I want to be defined as myself."

     

    "Even though, yes, I gave her a second chance at life, we're just normal sisters. I never think about it at all," she added.

    Anissa does think about it, though, and has taken steps to make sure the priceless gift of life is not easily forgotten.

    On "Good Morning America" today she announced that she is founding a research grant called the "Marissa Eve Ayala Research Grant" with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

    Anissa is making the first donation, $10,000, towards a goal of $100,000.

    "It's going to be in honor of [Marissa]," she said.

    "It's really just brought so much joy to our lives. She's such a beautiful girl and she's such a beautiful person."

     

     

     

     

    
    

     

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
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• ABOUT St. Luke's Room

  • From: GarrettsRoom
  • Description:

    Garrett Schram passed away on October 1, 2008.

    Garrett Schram

    Vision: St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital Garrett’s Room / Boise, Idaho
    

    Vision Fund:  Special Bank Account setup at St. Luke’s Hospital
    

    Website/Idaho Statesman Newspaper: 
    http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/521150.html
    

    CBS-TV News VIDEO:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/18/earlyshow/main4457049.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_4457049

    In Boise, Idaho, 13-year old Garrett Schram, who battled Ewing's Sarcoma, a cancer which affects young people and occurs primarily in bone or soft tissue, drew attention to the St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital’s hospital-based school when he asked that his family's Boise State-Oregon football game tickets be auctioned off on local radio station Mix106 to benefit the school.

    Garrett's dream was to have a teen room created at the school - a place where teens could hang out together, play video games and watch TV or movies.

    Boise area residents wanted to help him achieve that dream. About $8,000 has been donated to the St. Luke's Health Foundation through radio auctions and direct donations.

    Garrett, who played football before he was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago, always told his dad that he was a Bronco fan "before being a Bronco fan was cool."  Boise State Football Coach Chris Petersen and quarterback Kellen Moore visited and gave him one of the Boise State-Oregongame balls.

    St. Luke's is working on a development plan for Garrett's dream. "We want to honor his wish," said Ken Dey, a spokesman for St. Luke's.  "We're working hard toward that. Everyone is on board to do that."

    Garrett, who lived in Boise, Idaho, couldn't go to school after developing the disease ub August 2007. That's because the high bursts of radiation and 14 rounds of heavy-dose chemotherapy he received suppressed his immune system. Even the weakest germs could have killed him.  So school came to Garrett. Not only is there a classroom and a full-time teacher at St. Luke's Children's Hospital, there's a unique learning tool. It allowed Garrett to learn right along with his classmates at Sawtooth Middle School, miles away. 
    
    A device with tiny cameras pointed in every direction is what made this possible. It's called a Microsoft RoundTable, and it was initially developed for business video conferences. 
    
    The technology provided a real-time video-audio connection between the hospital and Garrett's school. Garrett was the first student in the country to have used it. “Not only did it mean keeping up with lessons and getting good grades … "It made me feel more normal at times," Garrett said. 
    
    "It's very exciting and stuff because it's very new technology and it allows Garrett and other kids in hospitals to interact with kids their age," said Garrett's friend Dalton Compton. 
    
    But the real value of the technology may be what Garrett's teacher considers its healing power.  "It's keeping him connected to his community, to his peers, and to his teachers has made all the difference in the world," said Garrett's teacher Hayley Welch recently. 
    
    In speaking with a CBS-TV news reporter recently, Garrett's dad, called his son his champion. The best part of the technology for him? "Watching him achieve under negative circumstances," Joe Schram said. "Watching him excel because it's changed him dramatically." 
    
    And Garrett helped change long-term hospital stays for children across the country.  "You're going to bring it to the future, huh? For other kids?" the TV reporter asked Garrett.  "Yeah, that's my goal," Garrett said. "So I hope every kid that is going through this gets to use one." 
    
    A dozen more hospitals are ordering RoundTables. And thanks to Garrett's success using the RoundTable, Microsoft says it will donate thirty of the devices to hospitals this year.

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
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• GarrettsRoom

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• Welcome to JohnBozLIFE.com

  • From: johnboz
  • Description:
    This is the JohnBozLIFE.com welcome video. I hope you'll visit the site for lots more fun stuff!
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 74
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• johnboz

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  • Since: 1 year ago