{"id":4525,"date":"2018-05-02T12:12:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T16:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=4525"},"modified":"2018-05-03T10:44:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T14:44:32","slug":"vorkanash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/vorkanash\/","title":{"rendered":"Vorkanash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"memory<\/a>
Children’s matching games are fun but genetic matching can save a life!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She played matching games when she was a child. True, she wanted very much to win but losing wasn\u2019t the end of the world. Now she is thirty. And losing this \u2018matching game\u2019 would be the end of her world\u2026 the end of her life.<\/p>\n

She had been experiencing strong back pains for several months. When the pain intensified, she visited her doctor. Tests revealed that she had lymphocytic leukemia<\/strong>. Radiation and chemotherapy were not enough. Due to the aggressive character of the illness, she would have to have a stem cell transplant<\/strong> asap. \u00a0Within a few, short weeks! \u201cWe are in a race against time,\u201d explained Dr. Itai Levy, head of the Hematology Department in Soroka Hospital.<\/p>\n

Her name is Vorkanash. <\/p>\n

\"pr<\/a>
Vorkanash is waiting for the DNA match that will save her life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She is a member of the Ethiopian community<\/strong> in Israel, a community that is underrepresented in Ezer Mizion\u2019s Bone Marrow Registry<\/a><\/strong> in proportion to its representation in Israel<\/strong>\u2019s general population.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s somebody\u2019s life. We have to do everything possible to save her,\u201d says Dr. Bracha Zisser, founder and director of the Registry<\/strong>. \u201cNo human being should have to undergo the anguish of waiting for that elusive DNA match.\u201d\u00a0 Ezer Mizion has undertaken a drive to increase the level of Ethiopian<\/strong> registration both for Vorkanash and others of this segment of Israel\u2019s population. Measures are being taken to boost the chances of a match being found for Vorkanash\u2026before it\u2019s too late.\u00a0 From almost 900,000 potential Ezer Mizion Registry donors, only 11,530 are of Ethiopian<\/strong> descent resulting in no match, so far, for Vorkanash.\u00a0 But she is hopeful that soon one of the new registrants will be found to be her genetic counterpart<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Unlike blood typing, DNA matching<\/strong> is quite complex with many more factors involved. Ethnicity plays a major role. Ezer Mizion, the largest Jewish<\/strong> registry in the world, has saved the lives of over 2700\u00a0 in Israel, America and every country on the globe that has a significant Jewish<\/strong> community. In 2017 alone, 307 life-saving transplants were performed.<\/p>\n

\"pr<\/a>
Stem cells being extracted and blood returned to donor via 2nd arm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When a donor is found to be a match for a cancer patient, he is treated to increase his stem cells. When the \u2018big day\u2019 arrives, he will be treated like royalty as he lies in a hospital bed attached to a machine that will separate his stem cells<\/strong>. Blood is drawn from an IV in one arm. It passes through the machine where the stem cells<\/strong> are extracted and the blood is then returned to him via the other arm. This process continues until enough stem cells<\/strong> have accumulated. The little \u2018bag of life\u2019 is then brought to the patient accompanied by the donor\u2019s prayers. After a year, the donor is legally permitted to meet with the patient and his family, a highly emotional gathering. One cannot begin to imagine the feelings that rise up as a young father embraces the man whose selflessness had saved his child\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She played matching games when she was a child. True, she wanted very much to win but losing wasn\u2019t the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,1],"tags":[741,1059,1057,1056,1058,7,9,37,23,922,193],"class_list":["post-4525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bone-marrow-registry","category-ezer-mizion","tag-bone-marrow-registry","tag-dna-matching","tag-ethiopian","tag-ethiopian-community","tag-genetic-counterpart","tag-israel","tag-jewish","tag-leukemia","tag-registry","tag-stem-cell-transplant","tag-stem-cells"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4525","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=4525"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4532,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4525\/revisions\/4532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}