Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
Blood Cancer Awareness Month in September provides an opportunity to remind the public about the urgent need to support research to fight blood cancer — a disease that is diagnosed every three minutes in the U.S. and has no current means of prevention. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, myeloma survivor, and feather of three, Oya of Philadelphia, PA won’t let anything stand in his way as he prepares his kids for another challenging school year.
“Myeloma is the most prevalent blood cancer among people of African descent and it is also one of the hematologic malignancies with the greatest racial disparities,” said Oya. “This population is not only twice as likely to develop this rare and incurable cancer when compared to white Americans and other racial groups, but they are also more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age.”
Oya takes a pill every morning and hasn’t let his blood cancer stand in the way of moving the needle forward for other patients through his advocacy work and making sure his children don’t miss a beat while staying informed. “The global COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified the issues patients face beyond health concerns to include added distress, new financial worries, loneliness, and uncertainty,” said Oya. “LLS continues to help blood cancer patients through a wide range of free services, ranging from clinical trial navigation to support programs like Myeloma Link, which aims to break down barriers and address the needs of underserved populations.”
The global leader in the fight against blood cancer, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), where Oya is a passionate advocate and volunteer, is working tirelessly to find cures and provide more support for blood cancer patients and their families than any organization in the world. “I hope to get that message out to more people in the black community and especially parents who need support along with the need for more African American stem cell donors,” said Oya.
