Richboro resident seeks marrow donor via testing event
NORTeAMPTON - Nick Schanz would like a moment of your time. And if during that moment all goes well, he’d like a little more.
Schanz, 21, was diagnosed with eodgkin’s Lymphoma two years ago. HH LV VWLOO wDLWLnJ WR finG D person who has the marrow he desperately needs. Neither his brother nor his sister proved to be a match, so on Saturday, Nov. 24, the Richboro resident is going to expand his search.
From noon until 4 p.m., BeTheMatch.org, a website that connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant, will host testing at the Northampton Township Building.
Schanz is grateful for the event. Friends and family have taken to social media and other outlets to get the word out. It’s now scheduled to be much more than what Schanz had originally anticipated.
“I wasn’t expecting as many people as I was just told we were getting,” said Schanz, who had recently been updated by a friend. “I thought it was just going to be close friends and family. But now I’m hearing about friends of friends. “
Right now, Schanz is undergoing chemotherapy treatments every other Wednesday in hopes to put a stop to the cancer, which KH VDLG LV FRnfinHG WR KLV lungs. Despite that, Schanz said he feels as good as can be expected.
“Right now I feel great, especially when you compare how I felt in the sum- mer,” Schanz said. “But I get pretty tired after the treatments. I need a couple days to recover.”
ee was recovered HnRuJK WR DWWHnG KLV fiUVW Penn State football game last weekend, watching the Nittany Lions dispatch the Indiana eoosiers. The Council Rock North graduate said it’s important to do things he enjoys as much as possible. ee’s also taken recent trips to New vork and Pittsburgh to visit friends.
“It keeps my mind off of everything that’s going on,” Schanz said. “I’m kind of stuck at home. I can’t go to school, can’t go to the gym. I certainly don’t drink. I just do everything in moderation.”
Schanz is taking a doctorordered break from West Chester rniversity. In addition to graduating from Council Rock North in 200V, Schanz also attended Richboro blementary and Middle schools. ee hopes to be back to a normal life at some point. eopefully, he said, Saturday’s event wLOO EH WKH fiUVW VWHS Rn WKH road to recovery.
According to Schanz, visitors seeking to see if they are compatible will KDYH WR fiOO RuW D TuHVWLRnnaire, which will immediately weed out some who aren’t a potential match. Those who move on to the next phase will simply have the inside of their cheek swabbed. That’s it.
If a match is found, that person will begin the process of donating marrow in January, Schanz said.
*** For more information, e-mail BeTheMatch.org spokesperson Betty Kelly at bkelly@nmdp.org.