One year after the transplant, Loof met her donor. A confidentiality policy requires anonymity between recipients and donors until one year post-transplant. As a cancer survivor, Loof is an avid patient advocate. Between 1994 and 1998, Loof served on the NMDP Patient Services Committee. Throughout her tenure, she held positions of chair, vice chair and patient representative to the NMDP Minority Affairs Committee.
Marrow transplants require matching certain tissue traits of the donor and patient.
Because these traits are inherited, an Asian or Pacific Islander donor is more likely to match another Asian or Pacific Islander patient, such as Loof. Although it is possible for an Asian or Pacific Islander volunteer marrow donor to match a patient from any racial or ethnic group, the most likely match is an Asian or Pacific Islander. Williams of Tacoma, Wash., formerly of Bristol, Penn., will be celebrating two years of survivorship on June 6. June 6 marks the 12th annual National Cancer Survivor's Day, which is sponsored by the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation. Not very many people get to have the chance to say that they are a cancer survivor.