Today’s conversation is with Moon.  You can tell by her stories and perspective that this is a woman who lives by her rules.  Having studied law, lived in the UK, spent a good chunk of her career in journalism, and loves pole dancing, Moon is not one to conform to societal expectations.  She’s taken the bull by the horns throughout her life challenges, with the most recent being a cancer diagnosis.

In this episode, we talked about how cancer has an effect on our relationships, family, and friendships.  We also touched on topics of intimacy, introspection, culture, and self-expression.  It ain’t very common to hear cancer patients be so open about things, particularly in the Chinese and Malay speaking communities.  So, I hope y’all could take something from this, and encourage your loved ones to not shy away from seeking support.

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BONE MARROW DONATING

Did you know that 70% of patients in need of a marrow transplant do not have a matching donor in their family? A bone marrow transplant can save the life of someone battling leukaemia, lymphoma, or another blood cancer.

Getting tested is super easy, it’s just a cheek swab, and your data gets stored in the national database.  Registering is not a guarantee that you will get o save someone’s life, as donor matches are not as simple as blood type matching.  According to bethematch.org, only 1 in 430 registered donors would actually donate

Two important factors in matching marrow donors to patients: Age and ancestry.  As you can guess, non-caucasian ethnicity groups have lower chances of finding matches.  For all kinds of reasons, from lack of education to lack of national resources.  Some countries do not have bone marrow donor programs, here are some who do, and are relevant to the majority of this podcast’s audience.  The US, Hong Kong, Malaysia, UK, Singapore, Australia.  

USA: https://bethematch.org/

Hong Kong: https://www5.ha.org.hk/rcbts/bm-intro?lang=en

Malaysia: https://www.facebook.com/Malaysian-Stem-Cell-Registry-349126145435696/

Singapore: https://www.facebook.com/bmdp.sg/

UK: https://www.dkms.org.uk/en

Australia: https://www.donateblood.com.au/learn/bone-marrow-donation

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If you found any of our topics thought-provoking, and would like to engage, do send in your message via the contact page on this website tacklingminds.com

Thank YOU for supporting this podcast!

Which indirectly supports my recovery from cancer!

Making this podcast has been a saving grace, the mission is to drive healthy conversations on mental wellness for positive growth

If you align with this purpose, it would mean a lot to me if you could rate the show on Apple podcast and subscribe via our website! 

Another way you could support the production of this show is through Patreon.  

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At this point, I’m hitting my 18th-month post-bone marrow transplant.  If you’re curious about how I’m doing with cancer, 

You can get caught up on that through my videos on youtube and my website - emilylolatan.com

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