{"id":169,"date":"2015-03-09T04:43:29","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T04:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/after-cancer\/?p=169"},"modified":"2015-04-08T17:25:01","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T17:25:01","slug":"a-desperate-search-for-bone-marrow-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/after-cancer\/2015\/03\/09\/a-desperate-search-for-bone-marrow-match\/","title":{"rendered":"A Desperate Search For A Bone Marrow Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

For all the breakthroughs in cancer care over the last few decades, sometimes the best treatment just doesn\u2019t work. That\u2019s what happened to Jude Cobler of Plano. He was just 6 years old — and he needed a bone marrow transplant. Finding the right match would be tough.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Jude

Jude Cobler, left, needed a bone marrow transplant. The procedure is tricky \u2013 and dangerous. The Cobler family hoped that Jude’s brother, Joshua, would be a match. Photo\/Mark Birnbaum<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

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With cancer, there are a lot of odds. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Odds of chemotherapy working. Odds of complications. Odds of a full recovery.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jude and his father, Keith Cobler. Photo\/Courtesy Cobler family<\/p><\/div>\n

When Jude Cobler\u2019s chemo didn\u2019t work, his odds of survival dropped drastically.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey told us it\u2019s now more like a 20 percent survival rate as opposed to the 80 percent,\u201d said Jude\u2019s dad, Keith. \u201cWe didn\u2019t feel very good about that.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jude was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Each year, about 2,500 kids are diagnosed with this type of leukemia.<\/p>\n

Jude, who had turned 6, would need a bone marrow transplant.<\/p>\n

The procedure is tricky \u2013 and dangerous. But before preparation can begin, you have to find the right bone marrow donor.<\/p>\n

Keith Cobler is white. His wife, Boots, is from the Philippines. Being a mixed-race couple posed a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to find a match would be very difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A potential match<\/h3>\n

How difficult?<\/p>\n

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Jude and Joshua Cobler. Photo\/Courtesy Cobler family<\/p><\/div>\n

There are around 16 million volunteer donors on the national Be The Match Registry<\/a>. Of those, just 3 percent identify as mixed race.<\/p>\n

Athena Asklipiadis is the founder of Mixed Marrow<\/a>, a nonprofit that works to recruit donors. She\u2019s part Japanese, Italian, and Egyptian and Greek.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to minorities, about 7 percent are African-American, American-Indian 1 percent, Asian 7 percent,\u201d Asklipiadis said. \u201cThe issue with multiple-race people is we are the fastest growing demographic. We are going to run into a lot more patients of mixed race that are going to have a need for a match that just isn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For someone like Jude, it almost sounds like a lost cause.<\/p>\n

The patron saint of lost causes just happens to be St. Jude. The Coblers, whose Catholic faith runs deep, named their second son after him.<\/p>\n

There was one hope, though — Jude\u2019s only brother, Joshua.<\/p>\n

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Boots Cobler kept a journal while her son, Jude, had cancer. Photo\/Mark Birnbaum<\/p><\/div>\n

Odds are one in four that a sibling will be a match.<\/p>\n

After a blood test, the boys\u2019 mom, Boots, got the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like \u2018Ahhhh!,\u2019 yelling,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was overjoyed,\u201d Joshua said. He was 12 at the time. \u201cI wanted to be able to help my brother somehow, but I didn\u2019t know how. The bone marrow transplant for me was an opportunity for me to do something for him that would be long-lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Video: About The Bone Marrow Transplant<\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen we start out treating cancer in kids, the goal is cure,\u201d says Jude Cobler\u2019s doctor, Dr. Patrick Leavey, who’s with UT Southwestern Medical Center. \u201cIt \u2026 was our goal when Jude was diagnosed with his leukemia to cure him.\u201d In this video, learn about the bone marrow transplant that saved Jude\u2019s life.<\/em><\/p>\n