Tammy McLash during a visit from her twins Adam and Madeline. (Mathew McLash)
The McLash family’s world was turned upside down in a matter of 24 hours.
On August 7, Tammy McLash was suffering from a sore throat and dealing with a leg rash. She went to see a doctor for a blood test.
The next day she was called and told to go to the emergency room for a blood transfusion.
A few hours later her husband Mathew’s phone rang.
“She called me crying, saying she had cancer. She’s been home for 16 hours since then,” said Mathew McLash.
Tammy McLash, 38, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and urgently needs a stem cell transplant.
McLash grew up in Regina but now lives in Edmonton with her husband and two year-old twins, Adam and Madeline.
For the past two months, Tammy has been able to see her kids every day at the hospital for about half-an-hour.
“She honest to God lives for 3:30 to 4 o’clock when she sees her kids,” her husband said.
The McLash Family (Mathew McLash )
“She’s just finished her second round of chemotherapy. She’s not producing her own blood cells and is relying on blood transfusions,” he said.
‘She honest to God lives for 3:30 to 4 o’clock when she sees her kids.’- Mathew McLash
No match yet
Finding a stem cell match has been elusive. Tammy’s sister and brother were not matches. The family is making a plea for people to become stem cell donors.
“It’s something that will save Tammy and it’s frankly the only thing that will save Tammy. So we are desperately searching for it,” Mathew said.
Tammy McLash in an Edmonton hospital currently looking for a stem cell transplant. (Mathew McLash)
Experts have told the family that people between the ages of 17 and 35 are the best chance for a stem cell match. Mathew is encouraging them to join the One Match stem cell database. It is operated by Canadian Blood Services and it catalogues cells from a cheek swab.
Mathew is hoping to hold an event in order to get a large number of people swabbed at once to speed up the process
“A stem cell is a cure and that’s as simple as I can say it,” Mathew said. “A stem cell match from a donor is a cure for leukemia.”
