E.B. resident, 32, turns to community for help
Father of two seeks DNA match for stem cell transplant
BY JACQUELINE DURETT Correspondent
Mitchell Brown and his family are waiting for someone to step forward and help save his life.

Mitchell and Jill Brown with their children Jack, 3, and Sydney, who was born in June.

The 32-year-old East Brunswick resident, who was diagnosed with a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in April, is looking for a donor and is asking anyone eligible to get tested to see if he or she is enough of a DNA match to be a blood stem cell donor.

"This was just so out of nowhere," said Hedy Brown, Mitchell's mother. She said her son first complained of a sinus infection and a pain on his left side. While the sinuses cleared up, the pain on his side only got worse. He was in such terrible pain, she said, that he went to the emergency room. Doctors soon discovered he had an enlarged spleen, which was tangled in a mass. Though the mass and spleen were eventually removed, Hedy said her son still had a cancer diagnosis.

"That was the beginning of our nightmare," she said.

The type of cancer Mitchell Brown was diagnosed with typically responds well to treatment — about 90 percent of those diagnosed with his condition are able to be successfully treated.

"So we were so hopeful," Hedy said. "Ninety percent, those are great odds."

However, Mitchell falls into that other 10 percent that has not responded to chemotherapy, and as such his doctors recommend that he receive a stem cell transplant.

"He's undergone several rounds of chemo," said Jamie Charney, a family friend who has been helping to get the word out about the need for a donor. But now, she said, "We need people to get their DNA tested. We need to find a match."

Mitchell and his family and friends have been circulating letters to the community explaining his condition and the urgency in finding a donor.

"If after my next scan," Mitchell wrote in a recent letter, "there are any residual cancer cells remaining in my body, I will need what is called an allogeneic stem cell transplant. This is where I need your help."

Upon doctors making that post-scan determination, Mitchell only has a window of a few weeks to have the blood stem cell transplant done.

"That is why time is of the essence," Hedy stressed.

Mitchell, who is a project manager for a small construction firm in New York, has very strong ties to the community that he is now turning to for support. He went to Central Elementary School and is a 1995 graduate of East Brunswick High School, where he was a varsity soccer player. He married his high school sweetheart, Jill. They now have two children — Jack, 3, and Sydney, who was born in June. Jill was eight months pregnant when the family learned of Mitchell's diagnosis.

Mitchell also played for the East Brunswick Soccer Club starting at the age of 6. So Charney, whose husband is an EBSC coach, has organized a bake sale fundraiser to be held during the EBSC's Labor Day Tournament, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 5 and 6 at Dideriksen Park, Cranbury Road. Funds raised will help defray the cost of donor testing and support the family's personal and medical expenses not covered by insurance.

The sale isn't just a few friends getting together to sell cookies and brownies. Charney said she has been overwhelmed by the people and businesses that have offered their time and money — as well as their baking skills.

"People are just coming out of the woodwork," she said, adding that at least 40 people have signed on to make items for the event. Businesses participating include Lox Stock and Deli, La Scala Bakery, Jack's Corner Market, Miller's Party Rentals, Dunkin' Donuts and Colonial Diner/Americana Hospitality Group. Packaged items will be available to take home.

Charney said she hopes the bake sale raises at least $10,000 for the Browns.

"I'd like to make as much as I can," she said.

She said Mitchell is grateful for all the community is doing to help him and his family.

"He is floored by the support," Charney said.

"We're just blown away by it," Hedy Brown added. "We don't know what to say to these people."

Hedy said the family was "hanging in" and trying to keep things as normal for the children as possible.

"They're phenomenal parents," she said, adding they tell Jack that "Daddy has to go to the hospital to get a boo-boo fixed." A breast cancer survivor herself, Hedy said she is trying to be as supportive as possible. But she admits she gets emotional as well. "I keep saying, 'Why isn't it me?'"

"I love them," Charney said. "They're just really good people."

And while Charney and Hedy Brown are grateful for the fundraising efforts, they are much more focused on the search for a donor.

"If he doesn't find a match, all the money in the world won't do him any good," Charney said.

Helping find a donor

The Brown family is asking that anyone interested in getting tested call LabCorp at 800-533-1037 and ask to speak to Sharon, Tanya or David. Tell them that you would like to be tested as a potential donor match for Mitchell Brown, and that he is part of the Hackensack University Medical Center Friends and Family Account, so they know where to send the results.

LabCorp will send those interested a testing kit that will require them to swab the inside of their cheek. Follow the instructions and mail the kit back to LabCorp. When filling out the paperwork, give Lab- Corp permission to fax the results directly to CarolAnne Carini, transplant coordinator at Hackensack University Medical Center, at 201-996-5691.

Those who have previously been tested through a national registry such as the Gift of Life or the National Marrow Donor Program can ask to have their HLA typing faxed directly to Carini.

There are no age restrictions for being a donor, only that the donor not be HIV positive or have had cancer in the past three years. For questions on the process, contact Carini at 201-336-8509 or at ccarini@humed.com. The family also asks that donors contact them so they can follow up on their behalf.

For anyone who has been determined to be a match, any subsequent medical costs will be covered by Mitchell Brown's insurance. The donation process requires receiving a shot that increases one's white blood cell count followed by giving blood over the course of a few days.

Charney said prospective donors can also attend a National Marrow Donor Transplant Drive that will be held today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 500 Plainfield Ave., Edison. Information is available at http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_in_Person/ drive_details.pl?drive_key=074-4- 01282.

In addition to the Labor Day Tournament bake sale, supporters are planning a golf outing and barbecue fundraiser for Oct. 10 at Old Orchard Country Club in Eatontown.

To contact the family about being a donor, email mfbrown05@aol.com or jillow1231@ aol.com. To reach Charney, email dr.solomon-charney@comcast.net.

To learn more about Mitchell Brown's story, visit www.helpmitchell.com.