ASK any cancer survivor and they will tell you that the diagnosis is one of the most traumatic experiences throughout their battle with the deadly disease. However, for local resident Pearl Malinga, her diagnoses came at what should be the most precious time in a woman’s life.
Not only did the 29-year-old have to face her own mortality, but the expecting mother was also told that she would have to terminate her perfectly healthy five-month-old baby girl.
“I was left absolutely heartbroken. It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. I’ve never been so distraught in my life. Having to consent to your baby’s life being taken in order to save your own. As a mother, that killed me from my very soul. I had already connected with my baby, Lisakhanya,” she said.
She was diagnosed after suffering from severe heartburn and morning sickness. Her mother insisted that she go to the hospital. There doctors detected an abnormality in her blood through a routine blood test. Extensive tests later confirmed her condition.
Malinga said for the first few days she remained in denial, and believed that doctors had made a mistake.
“I am still so young, and a real heath fanatic. I thought I was doing everything right. Being five months along I have had so many blood tests done, I questioned why it hadn’t been picked up in the past. Also, being black my family and I had never heard of this form of cancer. You hear a lot about breast, lung and cervical cancer, but this was all new to us,” she said.
After six chemotherapy sessions Malinga is in remission, and now as the country is set to celebrate Bone Marrow Stem Cell Donation and Leukaemia Awareness Month in August she hopes to use her story to encourage more people to register as donors.
“My goal is now to educate people and raise as much awareness as possible on the issue, especially in my own culture,” she said.
Mandy Bergsma, of The Sunflower Fund, said that every year hundreds of South Africans with blood diseases such as leukaemia reach the point where their only chance of survival is a stem cell transplant. The main problem is finding a compatible stem cell donor.
“Ethnicity plays a major role here, because it is all about finding a tissue match not a blood type match. People currently have a 1 in 100 000 chance to find a donor match in his or her own ethnic group,” she said.
To become a donor contact the Durban Regional Office on 031 266 1148 or e-mail mandy@sunflowerfund.org.za.
Stem cell donation facts:
– According to the South African Bone Marrow Registry only 30 per cent of patients will find a suitable match in the family.
– Donors need to be between the ages of 18 and 45 and in good health, they need to weigh over 50 kilograms.
– To register you only need to donate two test tubes of blood.
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Durban North boy initiates stem cell donor drive
