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Kids & Family

Part 2: 'You Don't Know Jack': an Article Written by a Monta Vista High School Student

Here is part two of Jack Chin's story as told by Monta Vista student Aafreen Mahmood.

Editor’s note: . This story ran first in El Estoque. Mahood is a Monta Vista High School student.

Jack’s story spread on Facebook and Twitter to alumni, students and staff. After attending the donor registry held at the Cupertino Library for Jack on Feb. 4, art teacher Brian Chow and science teacher Pamela Chow, who both taught Jim, were anxious to spread the word to the Monta Vista High School community.

Brian Chow recently launched a public relations campaign for Jack, as he believes it will not only generate more support for him, but for others in need of bone marrow matches as well.

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“It’s basically all hands on deck. Everybody can help with this,” Brian Chow said. “It’s not just ‘Let’s just have a nice drive and maybe we’ll get something out of it.’ It’s like, ‘No, let’s keep pushing more’ because there’s always going to be people that need this. We’re not just pushing the ball, we’re making it run on its own.”

Part of Chow’s campaign involves posting portraits of students and alumni across campus buildings in the hopes that conversations will spread regarding Jack’s search for a matching donor. So far, Chow has taken over 30 pictures of seniors, alumni and local community members. Once the pictures generate enough curiosity among the student body, he intends to post pictures of alumni in local areas, off campus.

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Several donor registries have already taken place on Chin’s behalf and social media is being used to spread the word about Chin and the cause.

California State Senator Leland Yee tweeted about Chin’s search for a match on Feb. 9 and Facebook’s “Like of the Day” was dedicated to him on Feb. 11 as well. Others have retweeted Operation Save Jack’s campaign slogan, “Think cancer will win? #youdontknowjack” to promote the marrow drives and his search.

Chow reached out to actor Michael Paul Chan to make a public service announcement for Chin, and, I-Chu Chang created a Chinese flyer to spread in the community—particularly in busy areas such as the Asian shopping center Cupertino Village.

Complications

The efforts of alumni, Chow, Chang and others are driven toward not just finding a match for Chin, but also to persuade more Asians to join the donor registry. Though many of Jack’s and Jim‘s friends have shown support by hosting drives and registering to donate, they all agree that myths surrounding the donation of marrow renders it difficult to convince those not acquainted with Jack to register.

“I think that a lot of people don’t know that all it takes is a cheek swab. I’ve gotten flat out ‘No’s,‘ which I was pretty surprised about because you could do something so easily, in just five minutes, to save someone’s life,” said friend and Monta Vista grad Steffi Lau.

If a donor’s bone marrow does match that of the recipient, the donor first must pass a physical test, and be between the ages of 18 and 61 in order for a healthy transplant to occur. According to Asian American Donor Proram Recruitment Director Ruby Law, about 25 percent of all transplants are done through the marrow procedure, in which a needle is inserted into the back of the pelvic bone to retrieve liquid marrow.

This process is conducted while the donor is under anesthesia. The other 75 percent of the time, Peripheral Blood Stem Cell donation is carried out, a process in which patients receive a medication that causes them to produce more blood stem cells, subsequently released by the bone marrow into the blood. These stem cells are retrieved through a regular blood draw.

After donating, many are able to return to work within one to seven days, according to Be the Match, and are completely recovered in approximately three weeks.

“There are a lot of myths,” Jack Chin said. “Some [people] say, ‘Oh they’re going to drill into my bones.’ No, that’s what they do to me.”

A gray, but optimistic future

If Chin succeeds in finding a matching donor, he plans to “bounce right back and hustle” to reclaim his internship, job and—of course—his Blizzcon tickets.

“I learned a long time ago, at West Point, no matter how bad things get, it’s all in the past. I remember one time waking up in the morning to go on a long hike for miles and miles and carrying huge stuff, I literally was going to throw up all the way there. I realized that eventually you make it in the end and you find yourself in the hall with everyone eating lunch. You look back and say, ‘Huh, the morning is over. That part is over,’” he said. “Tomorrow’s a new day. In the morning you were suffering, and now you’re okay.”

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