When the ‘Lion Rises’, Ezer Mizion rises along with it. As a vital health care center, Ezer Mizion was alerted on Thursday, June 12 of impending complications due to Operation Rising Lion. The bone marrow registry had 12 transplants scheduled for the next week. Each one was for a patient facing a life-threatening disease and in need of prompt treatment.
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First step was to contact the donors to confirm. Will the war hamper their ability to travel to the Center to donate? Not one donor was even hesitant. Even the one who had been mobilized for Reserve Duty managed to defer it until after the donation. Not one patient will have to have his life-saving transplant cancelled due to ‘Rising Lion’.
At the Center, it was business as usual even with the country at war . Children were home from school. Spouses were serving in the army. But our staff, knowing how critical their work was, managed to make complex arrangements in order to be at work to fight a different battle from behind their desks.
Next on the agenda was the preservative to be used at collection of stem cells. Just in case. Cryopreservation is the process of preserving living cells, tissues, or organs at extremely low temperatures, typically using liquid nitrogen, to maintain their viability for future use. Cryopreservation allows for the long-term storage of biological materials, while preserving their genetic stability and preventing contamination. Cryopreservation offers several advantages, including:
- Long-term storage: Maintaining biological samples for extended periods.
- Preservation of viability: Ensuring the cells or tissues remain functional after thawing.
- Protection from contamination: Minimizing the risk of microbial or other forms of contamination.
- Conservation of genetic material: Preventing genetic drift or changes in the samples stored.
Two of the patients resided out of the country. Transportation for the stem cells had to be arranged with planes not officially flying their regular schedule. Organization of cargo planes. Coordination. Logistics. Until another hurdle was overcome successfully with much help from Hashem. Miraculously, all 12 were en-route.
No time to breathe a sigh of relief. A new batch of transplants are scheduled for the next week. Blood testing has to be performed. Tubes transported from here to there. Again contacting donors with heart in mouth at each call. Again the arrangements to use Cyropreservation. Again transportation snags to be ironed out. Again tired, worn-out staff, under strain due to the war, once again behind their desks, facilitating transplants and saving lives.
Ezer Mizion is not just a registry. It’s a mission. It’s hope. It’s life.
All Ezer Mizion Divisions are needed more than ever due to war issues. Meals for families spending days at a time at the bedside of a hospitalized family member. Traumatized elderly, helpless in the face of the crisis. Ezer Mizion hospital volunteers desperately sought as Ichilov Hospital and others move to bomb shelters. The Maroof Ambulance donated by our good friends, Paul and Philip Maroof in memory of Dr. Nahid Maroof, now serving war needs.
With all the terror and anguish, there are happy moments. Weddings are now held in the daytime hours. A bride’s mother who suffers from MS was transported to the wedding by an Ezer Mizion wheelchair- accessible van together with the bedecked-in-satin-and-lace bride, both glowing in joy.
In the shadow of Operation Rising Lion, Ezer Mizion’s continues its mission—with determination, devotion, and a full heart.
