{"id":2720,"date":"2014-10-22T11:54:49","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T15:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=2720"},"modified":"2014-10-22T11:54:49","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T15:54:49","slug":"marriage-is-a-beginning-will-it-also-be-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/marriage-is-a-beginning-will-it-also-be-an-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Marriage Is A Beginning. Will It Also Be An End?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few months after his marriage, young Arik was diagnosed with Hodgkin\u2019s Disease, a form of lymphoma, and his heart began to thrash with a confusion of feelings and thoughts.\"pr<\/a>
\nTogether with his new wife, Naomi Rivka, they had built their nest and fostered hopes and dreams for a shared Torah home, for a flourishing family life\u2026 Indeed, not long before, they had learned that soon, with G-d\u2019s help, they would become parents. And now, suddenly \u2013 such a blow!
\nBut Arik and Naomi did not allow themselves to be consumed by despair. They turned to doctors and were relieved to hear that Hodgkin\u2019s is one of the forms of cancer with the highest chances of recovery.
\nThey did not delude themselves that the journey ahead of them would be an easy one, but they prayed for Divine mercy and braced themselves for the many challenges awaiting them on the winding road that lay ahead.
\nWeeks and months passed. Arik received a variety of chemotherapy treatments followed by a course of radiation, and his heart was full of hope that the whole thing would soon be behind him.
\nThe small hall where the crowd had gathered for the Bris of his firstborn was charged with emotion. \u201cBaruch atah\u2026 she\u2019hecheyanu\u2026 la\u2019zeman hazeh \u2013 Blessed are You\u2026 for keeping us alive and maintaining us\u2026 to this time,\u201d the father of the baby recited with trembling voice, in a double entendre \u2013 a blessing both on the mitzvah of brit milah and on the life he received as a gift with the cancer\u2019s remission.\"pr<\/a>
\nThe newborn infant never imagined that the fact that his loving, smiling father was embracing him warmly was not something to be taken for granted\u2026
\nBut Abba Arik was determined to do anything necessary to regain his health. An autologous bone marrow transplant \u2013 a transplant of the patient\u2019s own stem cells \u2013 put the illness into remission, but soon enough, it became clear that this was no more than a temporary reprieve.
\n\u201cAt this stage, we were told that our greatest hope would be to find a matching bone marrow donor for bone marrow transplant, Arik relates. \u201cWe turned to Rambam Hospital, and after a few days\u2019 wait that felt like an eternity, we were told that a matching donor had been located via Ezer Mizion\u2019s Registry, and not only that, but the donor was right here in Israel!\u201d
\nOn Purim of 5769 (2009), on the day that is earmarked for \u201cV\u2019nahofuch hu\u201d \u2013 turnarounds, Arik\u2019s mazel turned around, and with G-d\u2019s help, he underwent the transplant successfully.
\n\u201cIn keeping with protocol, we did not know the identity of the donor,\u201d he explains, \u201cbut we knew that thanks to him, we were given a new lease on life. My heart soared with a feeling of appreciation towards this Jew. As an expression of gratitude for the Jewish sense of mutual responsibility that saved my life, my wife and I tried to fill our lives with spiritual work.
\n\u201cIn the summer of 5770 (2010), we were divinely blessed with a double gift \u2013 twins, a boy and a girl. With deep emotion and endless appreciation, we gathered these marvelous gifts into our arms and our hearts harbored great hopes for the future.\u201d
\nBut then, yes, once again, they were confronted with test results that indicated \u2013 the cancer had returned.
\nThis time too, Arik and Naomi did not lose hope. The very same anonymous donor gave another bone marrow donation. Success! Arik\u2019s tiny blessings will grow up with a father, with G-d\u2019s help.
\nSaving a Jewish Life
\nOn the other side, Itzik Chogi\u2019s story is no less fascinating. \u201cBack then, when I joined Ezer Mizion\u2019s Bone Marrow Registry, the procedure involved donating a sample of five ml. of blood,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThe process of giving the sample was short and sweet, but still, it remained engraved in my consciousness, and I did not forget it. The knowledge that I had the potential to save a life in such a simple way appeared to me like a minor miracle, and every time I thought about it, I got the chills all over again. \"pr<\/a>
\n\u201cMy father Yosef z\u201dl passed away when I was seventeen years old. I know what it means to lose a father and what a person would be willing to do so as not to lose a close family member. The findings of my blood sample were filed in Ezer Mizion\u2019s International Registry among tens of thousands of others, and I waited eagerly for a call that I was found to be a good match for a donation.
\n\u201cWhen I got the call from Ezer Mizion\u2019s Bone Marrow Registry informing me that I was found to be a suitable match to donate bone marrow to a patient needing a transplant, I was gripped by emotion.
\n\u201cCan you imagine?\u201d he shared his feelings. \u201cJust a year and a half had passed since my father passed away, and here, I would have the chance to save a life in his memory! I did not know whom I was going to be donating to, but I already felt a deep personal connection to that unknown person, to whom G-d had connected me with such a remarkable blood bond.\u201d
\nItzik was told that a bone marrow donor must be identical to the recipient in the tissue type characteristic known as \u201cHLA proteins.\u201d Even though close family members have the highest chance of being an HLA match, in practice, only about 30% of patients manage to find a matching donor among their blood relatives.
\nDue to the almost unlimited number of possible HLA combinations, the chances of finding a match between two people who are not related to each other are almost nil. These transplants are made possible only thanks to the existence of computerized international bone marrow registries, such as that of Ezer Mizion, which was the agent to find Itzik for Arik.
\nWith deep excitement and the knowledge that he was privileged to do something that not many people have the opportunity to do, Itzik began the donation procedure.
\nFor four days, he received injections to stimulate increased production of stem cells in his bone marrow and \u201cinject\u201d them into the peripheral blood stream. On Thursday, he arrived at Schneider Medical Center to undergo the harvesting of his stem cells, a simple procedure similar to a routine blood donation: Blood was drawn from him through a needle inserted in a vein of one arm. The blood was sent through a special machine that separated out the young stem cells collecting them in a small plastic bag (300 cc.), and then, the rest of the blood was returned to his body via a needle inserted into a vein of the other arm.
\n\u201cI lay there for a few hours and underwent the donation process, without anesthesia, without pain, and without side effects,\u201d he reports. In practice, Itzik, like all other bone marrow donors, did not lose any blood at all; the young stem cells that were screened from his bloodstream replenished themselves quickly, within a day.
\n\u201cI came home very excited, praying that my stem cells that were transplanted into the body of the anonymous patient would be well accepted and save his life.\u201d
\nBlood Brothers
\nWas the transplant a success? Did the recipient recover? Is he alive and well? Itzik asked himself these questions many times after the first donation, and many more times after the second transplant.
\nWho donated his bone marrow to me, and then did so again a second time? Who is the man to whom I owe my life? Arik, on his part, asked himself time and again.\"pr<\/a>
\nMany dramatic meetings take place in Ezer Mizion branches across the country, when bone marrow transplants arranged by the organization\u2019s intervention are crowned with success. Emotions rise to a head at the encounter of donor and recipient, crossing all lines. No one can remain unmoved upon seeing the meeting of two Jews who do not know each other, yet are joined by a covenant of \u201cblood touched blood.\u201d
\nAll the terrifying moments of the illnesses, the nightmares, and horrific scenarios of those days rise before their eyes, followed by memories of throbbing hopes cutting through the air and bearing the promise of good news.
\nThis time, the meeting took place in the presence of hundreds of teary-eyed observers, at a dinner held in Sivan 5773 (2013) on behalf of Ezer Mizion. On stage stood Arik Must who told his moving tale. When he finished, the emcee of the evening came over to him and gently asked, \u201cDo you want to meet your donor?\u201d
\n\u201cI am waiting for this for almost three years!\u201d Arik replied, barely able to conceal the emotion in his voice.
\nWithout hesitation, the emcee turned to the audience and invited Mr. Itzik Chogi to step up to the stage.
\nThe moment Arik and Itzik saw each other, they fell into each other\u2019s arms excitedly, blinking back the tears that gleamed in the corners of their eyes. They paused to take a good look at each other, and then each embraced his dear \u2018brother\u2019 once again. It was hard to say who was happier \u2013 the donor or the recipient. But there is no doubt that the entire audience was swept up in the tremendous wave of emotion that could barely be contained.
\nIncreasing the Chances
\n\u201cThis one benefits and the other does not lose.\u201d With this sentence, Dr. Bracha Zisser, Director of Ezer Mizion\u2019s International Bone Marrow Donor Registry and the Oranit Guest House for Cancer Patients and Cancer Patient Support Services, sums up the essence of a bone marrow donation.
\n\u201cA bone marrow donation is like a candle that illuminates the soul of the next person without affecting the quality of the donor\u2019s life in any way, without his soul losing even the slightest bit. When you kindle one candle from another, the light merely intensifies. There is no greater feeling in the world than knowing that a Jew is alive today thanks to you.\u201d
\nEzer Mizion\u2019s International Bone Marrow Donor Registry was founded in 5758 (1998). As of now, the Registry includes more than 700,000 potential donors and is the largest Jewish Bone Marrow Donor Registry in the world. The Registry is conducted by the professional and dedicated hands of Dr. Bracha Zisser, with the important help of Ofra Konikoff, Chief Transplant Coordinator and Nira Shriki, Search and Transplant Supervisor. Every year, Jewish cancer patients from around the world turn to the Registry with search requests. Up until now, more than 1600 life-saving bone marrow transplants have taken place thanks to the Ezer Mizion Registry in medical centers in Israel and across the globe.
\nUse of bone marrow transplants as a cure for various illnesses began nearly 40 years ago. Since then, significant improvements have been made in this medical procedure and its application has become common and widespread. Today, bone marrow transplants assist in treatment of some 100 different diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma, other cancerous diseases, malignant blood diseases, auto-immune diseases, and hereditary illnesses.
\nMost patients with these conditions recover with the help of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Nevertheless, there are some cases in which, without a bone marrow transplant, the chances of recovery are very slim.
\nLikelihood of a match rises significantly when the patient and the donor share a common genetic background. For generations, the Jewish people lived in closed communities, preserving the genetic similarity of its members. For this reason, there is greater genetic similarity between two unrelated Jews than between a Jew and a non-Jew. The international registry stationed in Holland lists more than 42 million potential donors, but only a small percentage of them are of Jewish ethnic background, and therefore, Jews have a poor chance of finding a matching donor there.\"pr<\/a>
\nEzer Mizion\u2019s International Bone Marrow Donor Registry is annexed to the International Registry in Holland and has a reputation as a Registry that provides a speedy, efficient response. Every year, the Registry receives hundreds of search requests from transplant centers throughout the world. When a match is found, the bone marrow is delivered via Ezer Mizion to any destination necessary.
\n\u201cThe Registry is a vital infrastructure, a life-saving resource for hundreds of Jews desperately in need of a bone marrow donation,\u201d says Dr. Bracha Zisser, Director of the Registry. \u201cAbout ten percent of cancer patients require a bone marrow transplant at some stage and none of us is immune to cancer. For this reason, the Registry is like an insurance policy for every Jew, no matter who and no matter where,\u201d she adds.
\nAnd of this we pray to always be counted among the givers and not the takers, the donors and not the recipients\u2026<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few months after his marriage, young Arik was diagnosed with Hodgkin\u2019s Disease, a form of lymphoma, and his heart […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[10,4,338,339,23,11],"class_list":["post-2720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bone-marrow-registry","tag-bone-marrow","tag-cancer","tag-hodgkins","tag-lymphoma","tag-registry","tag-transplant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2723,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720\/revisions\/2723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}