passing along the message....please take the time to read.


Hi Everyone,

As many of you know, Sherwin (docofmind) was diagnosed with a relapse of his leukemia two weeks ago. Currently he is going through high-dose chemotherapy to try and get the disease back into complete remission. He's been at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since Monday (6/27). His only hope now is to find a bone marrow donor match, and have a bone marrow transplant if and when a match is found. They are finishing the complete analysis of his bone marrow, and then we will begin the process of looking for a possible donor for a transplant. The doctors will search the national (and some international) registries of potential donors. However, many of you have expressed interest and willingness to be tested and put onto the national registry in hopes that you might be a match for Sherwin (or someone else).

I'm currently gathering names and phone numbers of people in the Southern California area who are interested in getting typed to be a potential donor. When I have names/numbers of interested parties, we will then set a date and time for a marrow drive. Potential donors should be between the ages of 18-60, and in good health. The testing at the drive will involve only giving a small sample of blood and signing a consent form. IF YOU (OR ANYONE YOU KNOW) IS INTERESTED PLEASE EMAIL: jenwong49@hotmail.com. PLEASE PROVIDE ME WITH THE NAME(S) OF INDIVIDUAL(S) WISHING TO BE TESTED, PHONE NUMBER, AND EMAIL ADDRESS. Feel free to email me for more information on the donation process, or to lend support in other ways. I will then contact you with further information regarding the date/location of the marrow drive. We are looking at a weekend date toward the end of July or early August 2005.

For information on being tested in areas outside of the Southern California area, please go to: www.bonemarrowtest.com for a list of drives in your city.

Thank you so much for your time, love, and support. Sherwin is so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family...and so am I. Please pass along this to anyone you think might be interested in joining National Bone Marrow Donor Program.

Love, Jenny Wong

jenwong49@hotmail.com

***Please understand that being typed and put onto the donor registry is a decision that should not be made lightly. It is important to realize that if you are put on the registry, you may be a match for someone desperate for a transplant. While you can decline to proceed with marrow donation at any time after joining the registry, doing so may be devastating for a potential recipient who is waiting for a transplant. For more information on becoming a donor/the donation process, please visit: www.marrow.org


**************

For those interested in being tested and put on the registry, please go to: bonemarrowtest.com and type in the name of your city/state. This website will direct you to the locations and dates of the marrow drive(s) in your community. You don't have to mention Sherwin's name, as he will be checked against anyone who joins the registry (which is updated daily.) It is important to note that this is a time-sensitive issue, and being tested before mid-August would be best.

(It takes 8-12 weeks for the lab to finish analyzing the potential donor's blood sample, and we are hoping to find Sherwin a match in the next 4-5 months.) Thank you so much for your generosity of spirit and willingness to help.

we are still having a bone marrow drive specifically for sherwin toward the end of july/beg of august? it will be in the san fernando valley or beverly hills area. if you want to come and lend a hand to support that, that would be great. definitely go to www.bonemarrowtest.com to find another drive closer to you if that is more convenient!!!

thank you guys for all your love and support!!!!

Sherwin is doing well and his morale is on the up n' up considering the circumstances. he's in n' out of the bed staying postitive and all the words and support has made a world of difference. thank you SO MUCH on behalf of his friends and family!!! you guys definately rock! 8)

 

YOU COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

We are holding a bone marrow drive in honor of my boyfriend, Sherwin Porat. He is 27 years old and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in April 2004. After being in remission for 13 months (and spending 7 months out of the last year in the hospital), Sherwin's leukemia relapsed, and his only hope for a cure is a stem cell transplant. Currently, he is receiving chemotherapy at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. If you would like to by typed to see if you are a potential match and put on the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, please join us:

WHEN:
Sunday August 7, 2005 2:30pm-5:30pm

WHERE:
Medical Offices of Robert K. Hanson, MD
22600 Ventura Blvd., Suite 104
Woodland Hills, CA 91364

HOW:

Getting "typed" as a volunteer donor involves just a simple blood test. To register as a donor, you must:

1. Be between 18-60 years of age and in good health (no autoimmune diseases, previous cancer/chemotherapy, etc.) and not been tattooed in the past 12 months.

2. Complete a consent form

3. Give a small sample of blood at the drive

(Please visit: www.marrow.org for more information about joining the National Marrow Donor Program Registry.)

RSVP: jenwong49@hotmail.com

Please email me (Jenny Wong), if you can, to confirm your attendance at the drive. (We're just trying to get a rough estimate of the number of people being tested.)

If you are unable to make the time/date/location of this drive but would still like to be typed, please feel free to contact me or visit: www.bonemarrowtest.com for information on other drives that might be more convenient to you.

***Sherwin and I thank you for your generosity of spirit and your willingness to help!! I look forward to seeing you at the drive!

Thank you so very much,

Jenny Wong

P.S. If you would like to help contribute financially to help offset the price of the testing, we will also be collecting donations at the drive. Checks can be made out to: "National Marrow Donor Program" and you will receive a receipt (donations are 100% tax deductible.)

 

don't forget if you are interested in doing this to RSVP with jenny. the drive will be held on the 7th of August.

also, a brief update with sherwin is that he is receiving the chemo pretty well (considering the circumstances) but has been having fevers up to 103

 

tell Sherwin that Tim said hello....I sent him a book a good while back to keep his spirits up

 

will do for sure!

just announced this morning:

they say that most second remissions will last less than six months
and that it's important to get the transplant before it comes back again..otherwise the chances of it working are very slim...

keep your fingers crossed this is great news!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

for those who want to donate in regards to the cost of testing at the drive, checks can be made out to "National Marrow Donor Program" (write "Sherwin Porat" in the memo field of the check) and sent to:
Friends of Sherwin Porat
c/o Private Medical Group
22600 Ventura Blvd. #104
Woodland Hills, CA 91364


in regards to other donations for medical costs, that info will be setup soon and i will update. The bands are not certain yet but all donations will be logged with names and address' so if it does go through, we will have bands sent out to you!

THANK YOU AGAIN - i cannot say this enough for all the support!

 

Just spoke to Jenny (sherwin's girlfriend) and she is organizing the marrow drive along with handling any donations that people have been inquiring about.

If you would like to make a donation in regards to Sherwin directly for Medical costs and things of that nature please make them payable to "Jenny Wong".

For donations for the bone marrow drive that can be made to "National Marrow Donor Program".


All donations will be collected at the medical center.

Friends of Sherwin Porat
c/o Private Medical Group
22600 Ventura Blvd. Suite 104
Woodland Hills, CA 91364


Please write "Sherwin Porat" in the memo field of the check and if you can include your full name, mailing address/email address if possible that would be great. i have spoke to jenny in regards to the bands and we will try to raise enough funding for the bands but we are not definate about getting them as of yet. if you leave us your name and mailing address we will make sure you get a band mailed to you once those are put into production.

Thanks again for all of your support and time from Jenny, myself, the Porat family and of course Sherwin!

 

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder for Sherwin's Bone Marrow Drive this Sunday, and update you guys on his progress. It'll be great to see you all out here...and if you hadn't signed up yet, but still would like to be tested and put on the registry, feel free to come on out! I got Olive Garden to donate salad and breadsticks, and we'll have popsicles, juice and some other goodies for after you get tested! Also, be sure to fill out a colored paper heart with your name and/or message to Sherwin (I'm putting together a scrapbook for him, so he knows how many people care about him!) If you lost the info on the drive, here it is:

WHERE: Woodland Hills Medical-Dental Plaza
Offices of Robert K. Hanson, MD
22600 Ventura Blvd. #104
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
(Southwest corner of Ventura and Sale Ave., between Shoup and Fallbrook)
(Plentiful free parking in rear of the building)

WHEN: Sunday, August 7, 2005
2:30-5:30pm

Please feel free to contact me with any questions/concerns: jenwong49@hotmail.com or (818)635-0947.

****A quick update on Sherwin's progress:
After two grueling rounds of chemo (the first one didn't work), the doctors tell us that he is in a very early remission. This is such great news, as it gives us some more time to find a match and get him a transplant. (Unfortunately, because most second remissions last fewer than six months, time is still of the essence.) Sherwin's hanging in there, definitely feeling the effects of the chemo (he's lost weight, fatigued, low blood counts, nausea, stomach pain, etc.) but he was bolstered by the news of his remission.

Unfortunately, the second round of chemo has brought on other complications. He's had a flare up of pancreatitis (which had him laid up last year for 2 1/2 months.) The doctors are suggesting I.V. nutrition again, and stopping his food intake for the next 6 weeks to let his pancreas rest, and then they'd go in and surgically drain the pancreatic pseudocyst that has grown to 6cm in the past month. We've been through this before, and it's tough, but I know he'll get through it. The only problem is that it will interfere with his next projected round of chemo, so they are going to have to figure out a way to work that out. He's a bit frustrated at this piece of bad news, but trying to keep his chin up. On a good note, his blood counts are on the rise, so as soon as his white cells get a bit more elevated, he'll be able to go home. He's definitely looking forward to that...even if it is with I.V. bags. Six weeks in the hospital is enough to drive a person nuts!! He's doing pretty well, considering everything. Sherwin is so resilient...always musters up a smile for me, even when I know it's difficult to do so.

I've been keeping him abreast of the AMAZING response I've gotten from all of you....and he is truly touched and moved by it all. So please know that you're generosity, support and love don't go unnoticed. Thank you so much for everything you have done and are doing! From sending donations to cover the cost of testing, to sending cards, emails, etc...it is all greatly appreciated. We are so fortunate and thankful to know such wonderful and giving people! Thank you from me, from Sherwin, and from his family. I look forward to seeing some of you on Sunday!!!

Love,
Jenny

 

i know this is long but please do take the time to read it through to obtain the latest update on our brother Sherwin.

An update letter for Sherwin written by Jenny, Sherwin's girlfriend:


Hi Family and Friends,

I want to thank everyone who came out to Sherwin's Marrow Drive
on August 7th, 2005. We had a great turnout, and Sherwin was actually
released from the hospital that day...he even made a brief appearance at the drive in Woodland Hills! Combined with a drive hosted by Sherwin's
sister in Beverly Hills, we managed to register almost 3,500 people to be
potential donors for people desperately in need of a marrow/stem cell transplant.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity, support (both financial and emotional) and love throughout all of this; it is so
appreciated. We should start getting some results of the tissue typing in the next three weeks or so.

Unfortunately and sadly, I have some very difficult news to share with all
of you. Over the past weekend, after being out of the hospital
for only one week, Sherwin came down with some alarming symptoms. He told me privately that he was worried that his cancer had come back, and that he was having night sweats, fevers and bone pain again. On Tuesday, our worst fears were confirmed. A blood test showed that he again had blasts in his blood, and that the past two rounds of chemo to try and get him into remission have not worked. At this point, the oncologists at Cedars-Sinai feel that there is not much more that they can do for him. We knew that there is not much time left to make decisions about getting care elsewhere, and have sent his medical records to specialists in Texas, Israel and Germany in hopes of finding additional treatment.

We learned yesterday that M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (a leader
in leukemia research and stem cell transplantation) has decided to take on
his case, and he will fly out to Houston, TX for testing and evaluation
beginning August 30. Although it will be very difficult to leave his hometown, family and friends here in California, Sherwin feels it is his only hope to receive treatment at M.D. Anderson. He is at home until then, and just monitoring his bloodwork as an outpatient at Cedars. He needs blood
transfusions every couple of days, because the leukemia is active in his blood and marrow again. It is a very difficult and scary time, and I would be lying if I told you that we were "doing okay." But, we are doing our best to spend as much time together as possible before he leaves for Texas, and enjoy time with his family and take in the beautiful L.A. weather here.

I fear the battle that the future holds for us, but I know that
Sherwin is strong in mind, body and spirit...more so than any other person
I have ever known. If anyone can get through this, I know he can. He is
determined to fight, and has told me that he has too much living left to do to give up now. I know he has so much fight left in him, though the past
few months (not to mention the past year and half since his original
diagnosis) have taken a lot out of him. It will be hard to have him so far
away, but I know that M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is the best possible place for him to be. They have many clinical trials using new drugs, immunotherapy, and if a match is found they are able to do transplants even if the patient is not currently in remission. It will be difficult, but I plan to visit as often as I can while he's out there. (The transplant process itself takes a minimum of 3 months, without complications.) The love and
prayers of all of us will bolster his spirits and fuel his determination to keep
up his fight.

I am sorry to have to break such disheartening news, but I
thought that you should all know because you have shown Sherwin such constant love and concern. He has been so very touched by each and every person that went out of their way to support him through this journey, and has asked me to thank you all. Please keep Sherwin and his family in your prayers and thoughts, as they are needed now more than ever before. I promise to update you on his progress, and I promise to stand by him and keep him thinking positive. We will get him through this darkness. Thank you so much for all that you have done, and I hope that my next email brings better news.

Love,

Jenny

 

My thoughts are with him and his family. Sherwin really is a great guy. I didn't know he had a relapse, I wish I was more frequent in this forum... please wish him my best.

James