At 32 years old, Hermes SuarezA transporter by profession, father of two children and husband of Dácil, he faces the greatest challenge of his life, which is none other than overcoming the myelodysplastic syndrome that was diagnosed last December, a type of blood cancer. It is a rare disease in patients his age, but more importantly, it has a cure. A bone marrow transplant would allow Hermes to regain the life he had a year ago, before the pandemic, when he had started a new job and life was smiling on him.
“I had just changed jobs, but both my mother and my wife insisted that I go to the doctor because I was losing a lot of weight. So I went to have some tests done ”. There he began his path to the diagnosis that finally arrived in December.
Like any disease of this type, the first thing he did was check if there was someone in his family compatible. “My brother is, but only 50%, so, although it is not the best option for me, if a donor does not appear that is 100% compatible, I will have to pull my brother. The doctors have given us a month to look for that donor, if he does not appear, my brother will donate his marrow to me. They don’t want to risk waiting any longer because the disease could get very complicated, ”explains this young man, who lives in Taganana.
This case, like that of thousands of others, could have ended there, waiting for a donor to appear in the National Network of Bone Marrow Donors (Redmo), and if not, cling to the only possibility it has. However, both he and his wife, Dácil Perdomo, decided to start a campaign to publicize precisely that national network, a system that, unlike others, such as the National Transplant Organization or the blood donation system, is practically a stranger. “I have a brother, but there are many people who do not have anyone compatible, and this network of donors can save their lives.” “Everybody thinks, when you talk about
bone marrow donation, in the spinal cord, which is the one inside the spine, but there are other types, as is my case, which is similar to a blood donation, a painless process ”.
Hermes refers to apheresis, a type of donation in which only the circulating stem cells are selectively removed in the blood, returning the rest of the blood to the donor. Stem cell separation is done by centrifuging the blood in a machine to which the donor is connected with completely sterile, single-use equipment.
“This process lasts about four hours, in which the patient does not run any risk or suffer pain, and in two days his body fully recovers the donated stem cells through this process,” explains this young father and husband. In addition, he adds that “simply by registering in a registry and with an analysis you can save someone’s life, it is that simple, but people do not know it.” And in this effort to find that 100% compatible donor, but also that there are others who may benefit, Hermes and Dácil have started a campaign on the Osoigo platform to get the politicians of the Canary Islands to listen to them.
His request is none other than that they put enough resources so that people know the existence of Redmo, and how easy it is to be a bone marrow donor and the lives that with a simple gesture could be saved. “Right now, the probability of finding a 100% Hermes compatible donor is one in 4,000, if there were more people in the system it would be easier,” explains Dácil. The process could be simpler, but for now the interested person must register in the donor network, print their application and go to the University Hospital of the Canary Islands, the blood bank and deliver it. There the process will begin, the same that will be activated when a match appears, and the donor will be asked to go to the hospital.
Hermes is currently undergoing “very mild chemotherapy” which above all makes him tired. If this donor arises, whose blood can come from anywhere in Spain, they will have to travel to the Dr. Negrín Hospital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where they would perform the intervention, and where they would have to stay for at least three months. He has everything ready to go with his brother anyway, but he does not lose hope that, by making his case known, that donor will appear who will give him the security he needs to heal.
Dácil says that ignorance is such that with her husband’s illness, despite the fact that they have explained it over and over again, they have been disappointed. “As soon as you name the word bone marrow donation, people back off. They say ‘I love you Hermes very much, but not donating’ and they walk away, ”he laments.
Both are clear that ignorance is the main problem, so they want everyone to know how easy it is to donate bone marrow. “People don’t sign up for the donor registry because they don’t know the reality of the process. Or they mistake it for the spinal cord. There is a lot of misinformation and ignorance in this regard, especially among young people, when it is precisely they, citizens between 18 and 40 years old, who can become donors ”.
In their request in Osoigo they explain that this ignorance in the Canary Islands is greater if possible. “We do not have promotional campaigns or information about it. And from here we also want to address our political representatives in the Canarian Parliament to demand more information and awareness-raising work on this issue, ”they explain.
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