Blood cancer – Sylvia Wohltreib’s then 15-year-old sister received this devastating diagnosis during a routine examination in 2010.
The diagnosis was a shock. There were no previous symptoms that would have indicated the life-threatening illness. The illness turned the life of the family from Baienfurt upside down. From one day to the next, everyday life consisted of chemotherapy and inpatient stays at the Ulm University Hospital. The therapies caused side effects from which not only the sick sister suffered, but also her parents and the two older sisters. “I was 18 years old at the time and about to graduate from high school,” remembers Sylvia Wohlschiss of the time.
Today she is 33 years old. As a special school teacher, she teaches children and young people with disabilities at the Upper Swabia Physically Disabled Center (KBZO) in Weingarten. Sylvia Wohlschiss seems like a happy, open-minded young woman. But she also went through dark phases. “I have experienced how strongly one is affected by fate as a relative of a cancer patient,” she says.
Sylvia Wohlschuss organized the typing campaign in Ravensburg. (Photo: Sylvia Wohlschuss)
Every twelve minutes a person in Germany is diagnosed with blood cancer. Only 30 percent of patients find a suitable donor in the family. All others rely on a stem cell donation from a donor outside the family. Anyone who would like to be saved as a potential donor can register with the German Bone Marrow Donor File (DKMS). Registration using a cheek swab only takes a few minutes. There are no costs for potential donors. The DKMS regularly organizes so-called typing campaigns in order to recruit as many people as possible as potential stem cell donors. You can also request a stick online and register from the comfort of your own home.
27 new potential lifesavers found
Sylvia Wohlschuss has also organized several such typing events, most recently on Saturday, October 26th, in Ravensburg at “Maima Lounge Yoga & Café”, where she works as a yoga teacher herself. 27 people have registered as potential donors. Wohlschiss is satisfied with the result, even if it doesn’t sound like much – after all, every single person is a potential lifesaver.
The response was positive: “Many people reported that they were already registered, others were made aware of the topic and two students now want to carry out a registration campaign themselves at their university.”
She wouldn’t have been able to carry out the campaign without helpers, says Wohlschiss. She is grateful to Elena Löffler, owner of the Maima Lounge, who made her rooms available free of charge. Friends and acquaintances also supported her both during the preparation period and on the day of the action itself. A contact person from DKMS was also there to help her in advance.
Touching news for the Weingarten woman
Sylvia Wohlschiss recently received a message that really touched her: a friend of hers received mail from the DKMS. She is on the shortlist as a donor for a blood cancer patient. And she, Sylvia Wohlschiss, is not uninvolved in this. The friend once had herself typecast at an event she organized.
Sylvia Wohlschiss’s sister has lost her battle against blood cancer. She died of blood poisoning a year after the diagnosis at the age of 16. “At first I felt helpless and sad,” says Wohlschuss. Her commitment to other sick people helped her deal with her grief. She has learned: “If something bad happens to you, you can still make something meaningful out of it.” Her sister can’t bring that back. But perhaps Sylvia Wohlschiss’s efforts can save another person’s life.
Registration as a donor
Free and fast, but vital
Anyone who would like to register as a stem cell donor with DKMS can also do so from home. Anyone who is not eligible to donate – for example due to age – can support the work of the DKMS with a monetary donation. Because each registration costs DKMS 50 euros. More on www.dkms.de
