
Amit Gupta has found a 10/10 matched donor - nwest
http://tumblr.amitgupta.com/post/16079119166/many-of-you-have-asked-so-heres-whats-going-on
======
chimeracoder
> At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my
> blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own.

That's actually really fascinating. This perpetuates for life? This would seem
to imply that a person who's received a transplant will, thirty years later,
be walking around with two separate sets of DNA, as the other cells in the
body presumably would not change.

Given that DNA is (indirectly) responsible for the way that cells communicate
with one another (among other things), I wonder if this dichotomy creates any
complications in other ways. (Not counting potential graft-host disease
rejection - I'm talking about further down the line).

~~~
superamit
Yep, perpetuates for life. It's called Chimerism.

I'd be interested (obviously) in finding out what other implications this
might have for me long term besides enabling me to life a life of crime. ;-)

~~~
cheald
I was gonna say, walking around with someone else's blood sounds like it'd
make for an entertaining crime drama episode.

~~~
chops
While not a "crime drama", Chimerism is also the main diagnosis in an episode
of House: <http://house.wikia.com/wiki/Cane_%26_Able>

~~~
infinite8s
Also in an episode of CSI
(<http://www.csifiles.com/reviews/miami/bloodlines.shtml>)

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megamark16
My father-in-law was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is also a cancer
of the blood, about 7 years ago. He has had two stem cell transplants since
than, one six and a half years ago and one a year and a half ago. Both times
he nearly died, but after getting through the scary stages he's out mowing his
lawn and spending time with grandchildren that he otherwise would never have
met. Science is truly amazing, and we're so grateful to the medical
professionals who took care of him and helped give him many more years of life
than he otherwise would have had.

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97s
Congratulations! My life was just extended going through the same exact thing
your going to go through. I am 7 months out and life is grand. Be thankful for
the small things like popsicles, laughing, and cold wash-clothes when you
start throwing up.

Everything will be wonderful. Best of luck to you Amit!

~~~
superamit
That's awesome. Congratulations! (And jeez yeah not looking forward to the
nausea in the coming week but I'll get through it.)

~~~
97s
For sure! I assume you have already been through tons of nausea. I relapsed
from my original AML treatmeat a few years later and had to undergo
transplant. The chemo before the transplant was the worst I have ever had. It
was my 11th round of chemo since I started with cancer back in 2008. Just sit
up in the morning and eat what you can, rest a lot and always talk to everyone
and ask them how their days are going. I found that hearing others pleasures
made me get through my experience much easier. Plus it takes the mindset from
how crappy you are feeling to how good the future will be for you.

------
leddt
My girlfriend of 27 was diagnosed with the same exact type of leukemia in
2010. She went through a similar process as Amit and so this story resonates
deeply with me. She received a bone marrow transplant last summer and still
has to go to the hospital every week or two, but she is getting better and
better.

Amit, let me wish you the best of luck. The coming days will be tough, sure,
but they will seem insignificant compared to all the days you'll get to enjoy
in the future. My girlfriend getting her transplant is easily the most
beautiful thing I've seen in my life. It's literally life in liquid form.

------
ck2
_Overall, 75% of AML transplant patients survive year one, 50% make it through
year five._

Our thoughts are with you, best wishes!

~~~
MichaelApproved
It must be so ________* to have your life expectancy over the next few years
calculated like that.

*Jarring, frightening, emotional, scary, disconcerting? What's the right word. Maybe all of them.

~~~
superamit
Those first couple weeks I was pretty sad and felt sorry for myself a lot.
When friends started organizing drives I got totally immersed in helping to
organize those and forgot about everything else. When that trailed off, I
guess I'd come to terms with it. I wish I knew exactly how long I had, but
nobody ever does.

I'm looking forward to using this as an excuse to do a lot of things I'd been
putting off and living the life today that I always figured I'd love
_someday_.

~~~
rooshdi
Thank you for the wake up call Amit. Like many others here, I just signed up
to be a donor because of you. You've inspired us all.

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TamDenholm
This is really great and i wish him well, but to my understanding at the
ending of the post, even if all of this is successful, Amit still has a really
short life expectancy? Can he perpetually do this over and over again to
combat the disease and prolong his life longer?

That must be incredibly difficult to deal with.

~~~
superamit
It depends. If the cancer relapses it can be resistant to chemotherapy I've
been exposed to before, which makes the prognosis a lot worse. There are
alternative chemotherapies though and they can repeat the transplant. But
yeah, if they can eradicate all traces of the cells now, and if the donor T
-cells succeed in fighting off any cancerous cells that remain, the odds are a
lot better.

It is difficult to deal with, or was definitely so at the beginning. But I
guess people are really adaptable -- I've a list of things I want to do and
try when I get out, and right now I feel like even if I only had another year
I wouldn't be too bummed.

~~~
TamDenholm
Thanks a lot for the reply, i wish you well in your hard journey.

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rdl
Note that if you sign up with the donors.marrow.org registry in January,
American Express is covering all the registry's costs (about $100 per new
donor candidate), so it's a particularly good time to sign up.

~~~
ahoyhere
Clickable link with Amex sponsorship details:
<http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx>

~~~
bmajz
Thanks!

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sunir
I decided to sign up to donate my stem cells because of Amit. I did not
realize how little it cost me to save a life and after that I felt
irresponsible if I didn't sign up.

I encourage everyone to consider becoming a stem cell donor and I thank Amit
for teaching me about it. I am relieved he found a match. He certainly
deserved it.

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oconnore
More importantly, to most of us Amit is just as much a stranger as the
millions of other people who are touched by leukemia and cancer in general.
Make sure you are donating in one way or another.

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hsshah
Great News indeed! Wishing Amit the best for the procedure. Let's make sure to
keep up with the momentum to register donors from minority groups.

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itmag
Good for him!

Flash of insight: a big part of why he was able to do this, is because he put
himself in the public arena and allowed himself to become a celebrity (in some
sense).

As someone who is a little scared of becoming famous, this is a wake-up call.

I always focus on the negative aspects (eg being judged) of being known to
many people. But if Amit had been as much of as a fraidycat as me, he might
not have gotten this chance.

Bottom line: being a public person confers many benefits. It's easy to focus
on the 5% who are haters rather than the 95% who are fans. Being obscure is
safe, but stifling.

(A friend of mine who is somewhat famous in his niche noted that the lynch mob
he had expected never showed up :p )

~~~
erikpukinskis
Amit is also extraordinarily generous. A lot of why he's "famous" is for
giving stuff away... his products, his events, his space, his time, etc. I
don't think all "famous" people would've received the same outpouring of
support.

------
ckeck
Certainly great news! This unfortunately hits close to home though.

My own son who is just 1 y/o was just diagnosed with leukemia (ALL pre-B) a
few weeks ago 2 days after Christmas and it has been a very rough road. I
really hope we won't have to find a bone marrow donor since we have cord blood
but that blood could be 'tainted'. Hoping to avoid additional drugs for
rejection.

Good to have someone else to follow along with. I've posted a similar blog for
my son over at (<http://www.noahkeck.com>). Would appreciate any prayers and
positive thoughts, etc.

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martinkallstrom
It is so heartfelt that this news ends up at the very top of HN even in at the
height of the SOPA debate.

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Jayasimhan
I was so eager to find out some details on who matched,the place of the birth
of donor etc to get an idea if proximity of birth place matters.. sadly, the
blog misses those details. Does anybody know who matched?

~~~
superamit
Me too. Officially the NMDP doesn't release any details to either party until
a year has gone by and they both ascent to it. Been trying to gather all the
clues I can from the doctors (who have limited info as well).

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revorad
What awesome news! Just yesterday, I was wondering if he found a match. I'm
really happy for him and glad that his drive made me sign up for the registry.
Here's wishing you a safe and healthy recovery, Amit.

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ajarora
Super happy for him :)

We see so many initiatives regarding cancer, yet as cliché as it sounds, you
never really understand it until it strikes close to home. My girlfriend was
diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma a month ago and is going through chemo
and radiation right now.

In the past I might have glossed over things like Amit's story, breast cancer
awareness month and pro football players wearing pink shoes...but now it gives
me a ton of hope (which I really need) that things like this can save people's
lives.

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aptimpropriety
Is there any data on how many actual potential donors did a sample as a result
of this campaign? The 7000+ reblogs is a very impressive number - but I'd bet
nowhere near all 7000 went through the process. Would those 7000 reblogs even
result in 7000 potential donors?

It could provide an interesting perspective on this hot topic of 'painless
activism'. While getting tested is pretty easy, there are still plenty of
points of process attrition for those to drop out (or not get started).

~~~
superamit
It's tough to know the exact number, especially since the numbers from the
drives are delayed by several weeks and some of the drives we held weren't
"tagged" for me, but from what's come in so far, and the drives we ran in
India, we should have registered about 10,000 people.

I haven't been able to get a number of the individuals who sent in for swab
kits as a result of our efforts, so I'm not including those numbers. But I'm
hopeful that with all the posts online + press (CNN, NPR, Wired, BBC, GOOD,
tech blogs, etc.) that those numbers add up to something significant as well.

------
oz
_"This is science fiction stuff. I can hardly believe it’s even possible"_

This was my reaction too. I literally had to get up from my chair and marvel
at what science has wrought.

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fiznool
It's stories like this that make you realise what's really important. It's so
easy to get sucked into a life of computers and tech but heartwarming stories
like yours, Amit, are what keeps us all human. I wish you the best for the
forthcoming weeks, months and years, and I really look forward to hearing your
progress on your blog, once you have recovered.

------
AdamFernandez
That's fantastic. Good luck Amit!

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j45
Great news, nothing the internets can't do as humanity's collective
conscience.

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beaker
I'll admit I got a little "misty" reading that - what a roller coaster. I'd
love to know a little bit more about the donor (e.g. who they are, how they
were found, etc..) Godspeed Amit!

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joebadmo
I'm curious about the long tail effects of this. I wonder how many people in
need found a donor match from all the people that got tested for this
campaign?

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mathattack
Wow! I dont know him and I am brought to tears.

It certainly highlights the benefits of investing in Health Care to improve
and save lives. SciFi happening today!

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wicknicks
This is great. Very happy that he found a perfect donor. Hope all the
operations go well.

Kudos to his friends and other people for helping him find the match!!

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chetan51
This is great news!

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aymeric
Quite a story. There is a tough fight ahead for him.

Good luck Amit.

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n_coats
Congrats on your great news, all the best wishes for you Amit! Stay strong and
positive during your operations and treatments!

------
qq66
Not only did it work for him, but this well-publicized screening campaign will
help other people find donors as well.

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salimmadjd
That's great news! Bravo to internet for creating awareness and getting more
donors. Hope it all works out for him.

------
jsnrkd
We look forward to reading about your successful recovery on HN during your
next stretch. Good luck!

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dev_Gabriel
Great news Amit, hope everything goes well. Wish you the best.

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andrewfelix
Thank you for the update. My mood has lifted 100 fold.

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n9com
Congrats Amit, wish you all the best.

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petegrif
wonderful news I know 2 people who have had this procedure. Both are well!

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zem
wonderful news! i'm glad he motivated me to sign up for the registry too.

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kpennell
Got me to swab :)

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ivankirigin
Such great news

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cteng04
congrats! good luck my friend

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ahoyhere
I found out while in a taxi cab this morning & I started crying. So thankful.
So glad I could (maybe) help.

It's such a simple thing to save someone's life like this. Please register to
be a marrow donor today.

It's no more work than sucking on a lollipop & even the donation process these
days is usually not much worse than blood donation (it just takes longer):

<http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx>

This is ESPECIALLY powerful if you're non-white or mixed race, because -- you
probably remember this from when Amit's story started -- the chances of
finding a match for an ill non-white or mixed race person is about 1 in TWENTY
THOUSAND.

That means that many of these sick people could be saved -- the tech is there,
the science is there, but the donors simply aren't. This is hideous, but
something we can absolutely fix.

The number of people who registered for Amit will almost surely save many
other lives.

So please, please register: <http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx>

~~~
losvedir
All right, you're the one who finally got me. Each time Amit's story has come
up on HN someone has posted a link how to join, and each time I'm closer to
deciding to do so, but always got a little scared before I pulled the trigger.

Now that I see Amit found a donor and the system works (my eyes teared up a
little reading his post), I finally decided I need to join.

So, for everyone else like me who has needed just a bit more motivation; go on
and join the registry. I just filled out the forms and requested the cheek
swab kit. It takes about 15 minutes to fill out the forms, and then in two
weeks they'll send you a cheek swab kit with instructions and a return
envelope. Not too bad, so far...

~~~
fady
wow, and you were the one who got me! i "was" in the same boat..passed it up,
but after reading your post and the follow up, i just had to signed up.

good luck; eat healthy.

 _update:_ just finished signing up and it took a whole 7 mins. thanks for the
nudge :)
[http://dl.dropbox.com/u/103326/Slingshot/Pictures/Screen%20S...](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/103326/Slingshot/Pictures/Screen%20Shot%202012-01-18%20at%206.22.13%20PM.png)

~~~
Jasber
This just pushed me into signing up too. I thought it would be a long
complicated process. It wasn't. Definitely worth it.

~~~
fady
nice!

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rmk
Thank God!

~~~
araneae
Oh no, I'm going to be that person.

Thank science! (And also those people who participated in a campaign to help
him get a match.)

My mom was diagnosed with a rare variant of AML (APML or APL) in April 2011.
When she was admitted to the hospital, she had at maximum one or two days left
to live before she would have hemorrhaged to death without medical attention
(no platelets).

When APML was first discovered in 1957, the average patient lived 2 weeks and
the death rate was 100%. "God" didn't save a single person with APML prior to
1957.

Now the "cure" rate of APML is 95%. It's pretty astounding. My mom has now
lived 10 months longer than she would have without modern medical science and
hopefully will live a good deal longer because of it.

My mom is incredibly thankful, not to God (who she believes in), but to modern
medicine. She even decided to not invite my Christian Scientist cousins to my
wedding (which she was able to attend 4 months after her diagnosis) because
she strongly feels that people who disregard medical science in favor of God
are literally wishing her dead.

~~~
97s
A lot of people who believe in God, can credit human discovery and science to
the God given ability to learn things.

This isn't a place for this discussion so I am not going to go further into
this. We should all be happy for Amit and anyone who finds a 10/10 match. I
know I was thankful for my donor.

~~~
ryan-c
Wasn't it Satan that gave use that ability? (as the serpent in the tree of
knowledge of good and evil)

