ORLANDO, Fla. — A young cancer warrior in Orlando is renewing the push to raise awareness about the bone marrow registry.
WFTV anchor Nancy Alvarez visited with 4-year-old Chloe Carvahlo and explains on how easy it is to possibly save a life.
One look at her smile and it's hard to believe Chloe is in the fight of her short life.
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Her birthday is two weeks away, and not long after that, a bone marrow transplant doctors are counting on to save her.
Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, or JMML, is one of the rarest kinds of pediatric cancers.
"Basically, one in every million children is diagnosed with this," said Dr. Alejandro Levy, with Arnold Palmer Hospital.
After this life-changing event, Chloe's mom is speaking out to raise awareness about bone marrow donations.
A sibling donor is always ideal, but in Chloe's case her brother was not a match.
Her caregivers said the answer is not in other family and friends lining up.
"It takes about 10 weeks when you're added to registry for everything to be in line for someone in need for you to be a candidate," said nurse Carisa Jones.
Most patients don't have that kind of time, so keeping a strong registry of diverse donors is essential.
Registering is done with a swab and transplants are outpatient procedures.
For now, Chloe's family is counting on the registry to find a match for their girl.
All they can do is wait and look forward to the day she's old enough to understand that she's a survivor.
Three potential donors were found through the registry and they're being screened right now.
Chloe will undergo a second round of chemo and doctors said she should be ready for a transplant in six to eight weeks.
[ For more information on registering to become a bone marrow donor, click here. ]
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