Neuqua grad in need of marrow transplant

Twice since March 2007 Kristen Capawan thought successful marrow cell transplants had beaten her Hodgkin's lymphoma into remission. Now, after a third occurrence, the 2006 Neuqua Valley High School graduate is fighting the odds and searching for a rare marrow match, one that not even her family can provide.

To help her, friends and family are sponsoring a National Marrow Donor Program registry drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Neuqua Valley, 2360 95th St., Naperville.

Karen Johnson, the mother of Capawan's boyfriend, Justin Johnson, is a breast cancer survivor and organized the drive.

"It's a simple procedure that uses no needles and doesn't involve drawing any blood," Karen Johnson said. "So hopefully we get hundreds of people out. If we find one match and save one life, the short sacrifice of everyone's time will be worth it."

Johnson said Saturday's process will include swabbing the inside of the registrants' cheeks with a cotton swab. The swab will then be sent for testing to see if they match any specific patients on the registry.

Capawan, who discovered she had the disease by having a lump on her shoulder examined, said she's cautiously optimistic she'll find a match - but doctors have warned her it won't be easy.

"My doctor warned me that finding a match for me will be very difficult because I'm half Chinese and half Caucasian," Capawan said Wednesday. "I know they're continuously searching the registry at the hospital for me, too."

Margaret Shannon, a recruiter for the National Marrow Donor Program and the Rockford-based Rock River Valley Blood Center, said patients are most likely to match donors of their own race and ethnicity.

"Only 3 percent of the people on the National Marrow Donor Program's registry are of mixed heritage," Shannon said. "Only 7 percent are Asian. As our population grows more diverse, the need for more multiple-race people on the registry becomes more urgent."

Capawan, now 20 and a junior in the University of Illinois' engineering program, said she will be at the registry drive doing whatever she can to drum up support and encourage folks to sign up.

"It's really very nice of (Johnson) to do this for me and all the others it may help and it's a really time-consuming task," Capawan said. "I'll never be able to thank her enough. She's really awesome."