An update on Paul Goodman, a Yonsei filmmaker and Orange County Buddhist Church member who has been searching for a compatible bone marrow donor, was posted on May 21 by his mother, Bonnie Goodman.
“Some of you may remember a few months ago, there was a big push here to find a perfect match for my son, Paul Daisuke Goodman, who relapsed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia late last year,” she wrote. “Although a perfect match was never found, he was able to move forward with his bone marrow transplant on March 12 with his sister, Laurie, as his 5/10 half-match donor.
“I’m happy to share with you that Paul is Day +70 and doing well. As expected with transplant, it’s been a tough road but he’s getting a little bit stronger every day.
“Thanks to everyone who attended a live drive, requested a mail-in swab kit, and/or shared Paul’s story to their friends and family. The Asian community continues to be very underrepresented in the BeTheMatch registry, so please continue to encourage your friends to join.”
In search of a possible match, several drives have been held throughout the Southland and in other areas, including Northern California and Hawaii. A mouth swab is all that is needed to be placed on the registry of potential donors.
For patients in need of a marrow donor, family members are checked first. If a match is not found, the next best chance is among people with a similar racial/ethnic background.
For more information, contact Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M), a program of Little Tokyo Service Center: (213) 625-0366, a3m@a3mhope.org, http://www.a3mhope.org/
Why bone marrow transplant ? Why did he not get CAR-T ?