Viet Lam is a 37-year-old doctor from Michigan who is of Vietnamese and Chinese descent. She has B-cell lymphoma and is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant. She is currently being treated at Stanford Hospital in the Bay Area, and without the transplant she will surely not survive.
Here is her story:
I would like to introduce myself and ask for help in search of a potential cure. My name is Viet Lam and I am 37 years old. I am grateful for the many wonderful opportunities that were given to me. I was born and lived in Vietnam for eleven years before my two siblings and I defected on a small boat. After refugee camps, we settled in the United States of America. Through the generosity and the kindness of many people, I graduated from college and went on to obtain a medical degree.
Practicing internal medicine in California allowed me to serve a diverse community. Yet, I did not truly grasp what my patients and their families go through until May 2007 when unexpectedly, I was diagnosed with an advanced aggressive Large B-cell Lymphoma. How could it be possible when I led such an active life? I did not have significant symptoms, except intense itching. After going through the usual emotional stages, I was determined to overcome this obstacle. With the help of a great medical team and loved ones, I successfully went through eight cycles of R-CHOP chemotherapy. Equipped with a new life perspective, I lived each day to its fullest. In 2009, a wave of suspicion and fear crashed over me when the same intense itching and new profound fatigue hit me. It was confirmed that I had widespread recurrence. My determination and optimism did not reward me with a remission after an additional three cycles of R-ICE chemotherapy. I do not have a matched donor in my family, like 70% of patients needing a marrow transplant. Therefore, my only chance for a potential cure is an unrelated donor match.
My Chinese Vietnamese ethnicity provides me not only a unique life perspective, but it also makes it much more difficult to find a match. This is why I am asking you, particularly those from a Non-Caucasian background, to consider being a potential donor. There is a tremendous and urgent need for thousands of people who continually hope for a miracle. I am encouraged and hopeful that we can expand our national registry and particularly those of under-represented backgrounds. Through your awareness and support, I believe that we can both close the registry gap and provide a second chance at life for those thousands of patients. I thank you for learning more about the National Marrow Donor Program and for the gift of life.
Viet’s online journal at Caring Bridge highlights her struggles with lymphoma and her call for help for herself and others in her shoes. For Asians, and particularly Vietnamese, the registry of bone marrow donors is dismally small. Orange County Weekly News recently published an article highlighting the plight of Asian Americans in need of bone marrow transplants and the shortage of Asian donors.
If you would like to help Viet and lymphoma/leukemia patients by becoming a donor, the National Marrow Donor Program has a program called Be the Match that can send you a registration kit for you to become a donor. The registration kit is free of charge, which will be sent to you once you have filled out an online questionnaire.
Please lend a hand in helping Viet and lymphoma/leukemia patients of Vietnamese descent by spreading the word and expanding the registry of donors.
Special thanks to David Pham of UCSF for sharing this story with us.
ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT FOR LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA.
Ayurveda, the Indian indigenous and ancient health science is probably the only remedy where leukemia is cured with out side effect. There are Vaidyas (traditional Ayurveda practitioners) in Indian rural, though their numbers nowadays are very few, who are successfully doing this amazing healing. I am one among them.
When we use the word Cure for leukemia, it must mean much more than remission. Modern medical doctors are not using the word cure because the disease often relapses even in ideal cases of APML or AML with blast count less than 20 percent and age below 40. In Indian remedies such cases are sure success. It often takes less than 30 days to bring down the blast to 0 level, simultaneously building up the other blood counts and general health. The patient will have to continue the treatment for many more months with diet restrictions and under close observation so that the disease shall not relapse.
There are hidden secrets of Ayurveda which are seldom revealed in any books, but kept for privileged private handling of masters in the linage of Guruparampara (disciple is learning sitting at the feet of teacher, for generations). When it comes leukemia or other difficult diseases there are still unique people who are successfully doing healing, while Ayurveda main stream doctors (who have formally studied the codified syllabus in Ayurveda colleges) are general practitioners. The one in the first category is known as Ayurveda Vaidya and the second, ofcourse, Ayurveda doctors.
As a Vaidya, it is my earnest wish to help Viet Lam, which in turn would lead doctors of Stanford to research more on this life saving treatment system.
Vaidyan from India.
http://www.jamesvaidyanhealing.com
Viet oi,toi sinh ra tai qui nhon binh dinh nhung theo cha vao song o Ninh hoa Khanh hoa toi luc con rat nho,toi san sang hien tuy cho ban neu ban can den toi,hay lien lac voi toi qua dia chi duongdam.nguen@yahoo.com.vn hoac di dong 0914224860