There are 96 COVID patients being treated at The University of Kansas Health System today, up from 93 yesterday. Significant numbers include:
- 33 with the active virus, down from 38 yesterday
- 5 in ICU, same as yesterday
- 2 on ventilators, same as yesterday
- 63 hospitalized but out of acute infection phase, 55 yesterday
Every three minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with blood cancer. Today’s program included a great story about Levi Korneli, who had his cheek swabbed as part of a donor matching program sponsored by “Be the Match” six years ago. Recently, he received a call in Chicago about being a match for someone in Kansas City. He and his brother flew to Kansas City to donate bone marrow at The University of Kansas Health System.
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. Joseph McGuirk, Division Director of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics with the University of Kansas Cancer Center:
- Levi is a great example of the types of heroic donors we see
- Be the Match is so vital. It’s a registry of 40 million people worldwide willing to donate their stem cells or bone marrow to someone in need
- Blood cancer patients have a best chance of recovery with stem cell transplant
- There are 12,000 procedures done in the U.S. each year
- For people with blood cancer, the cancer is of their immune system, so it can be a serious situation, especially in the age of COVID
- Bone marrow contains stem cells that can help generate new cells and is critical to survival.
- For African Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans and Native Americans, they have a lesser chance of finding a match, so the donor pool needs to get more donors from these groups to help a wider population.
- Thanks to a generous gift from the Sunderland Family Foundation, we recently opened a $70 million inpatient, 100-bed unit with a state-of-the-art air filtration system
Levi Korneli, donor from Chicago who traveled to Kansas City
- There was no choice, he had to do this because it was a chance to make a difference in somebody’s life
- The process was very smooth, and he feels great physically, as good as he was before
- It was a great experience, and he has exchanged letters with the donor recipient (they are not allowed to meet yet)
- He believes the chance to help someone is a real gift
- He thanked the donor recipient for helping to change HIS life
Community questions answered in the video include:
- Can donors only donate once?
- Are donor immune systems impacted by vaccines?
- How are donor expenses paid?
- Are there restrictions to who can donate?
Monday, March 7 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. That day marks the two-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 patient at the health system. This patient also marked the first COVID-19 case in the greater metro area and Kansas. Heading into the third year of the pandemic, we’ve come full circle. Another season of traveling that starts with Spring Break combined with relaxed or no masking. Dr. Hawkinson and Dr. Stites recap the past two years and we talk with a travel expert to share what you should expect and how to keep safe.
ATTENTION: media procedure for joining:
Zoom link: https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone Zoom link: 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628
TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI
Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital
YouTube.com/kuhospital
Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
