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  • Dee Dee Dixon Rund, president of Oklahoma City Abstract and Title Company, was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. Her family and friends are seeking volunteers who might be compatible bone marrow donors at several testing sites over the next two weeks. PHOTO PROVIDED

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February 9, 2010

Family seeks volunteers for bone marrow match

Businesswoman stricken with aggressive form of leukemia

Tracy Corcoran The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — A series of bone marrow and blood drives has been scheduled for Edmond, Oklahoma City and Norman to help Dee Dee Dixon Rund, president of Oklahoma City Abstract and Title Company, who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia.

Rund, a 1985 graduate of Deer Creek High School, will need the bone marrow transplant once she goes into remission, said Amber Dixon-Patterson, who is Rund’s sister.

Dixon-Patterson said the first bone marrow match testing will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Oklahoma City Abstract and Title, 1000 W. 15th St. in Edmond.

A blood drive and bone marrow testing also will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 20 at McCaleb Homes Building at 3644 E. I-35 in Edmond.

Additional bone marrow testing dates include from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 14 at St. Luke’s Methodist Church, 222 N.W. 15th St. in Oklahoma City, and from 2-7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Edmond’s First Christian Church at 201 E. Second St.

The last drive will from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 18 at Norman Regional Hospital.

According to the National Marrow Donor Program Web site, each year, more than 10,000 people who don’t have a family donor get diseases that only a bone marrow or cord blood transplant can cure. And, only three out of 10 patients will find that donor.

Dixon-Patterson said she and another sister had tested to see if they were a match, but to no avail.

“We had hoped that we would be a match, but we weren’t,” she said. “It was so disappointing for the two of us. It was like someone had punched us in the stomach. The best match is from a sibling.”

Dixon-Patterson said she wasn’t taking no for an answer to help.

“I’m not the type of person who can sit around and do nothing,” she said. “I realized I can help by getting the knowledge out there about this life-saving transplant process.”

Dixon-Patterson said she hopes to attract at least 2,000 Oklahomans to get tested. She said the testing only takes a few minutes and involves only a cheek swab.

“We want to get 2,000 people in hopes of finding my sister a match or a match for someone else,” she said. “People believe donating is painful, but most marrow donations do not involve surgery. And a simple cheek swab will tell you if you’re a match.”

According to the National Marrow Donor Program Web site, the majority of bone marrow donations don’t involve surgery. Today, the patient’s doctor most often requests a peripheral blood stem cell donation, which is non-surgical.

A bone marrow transplant delivers healthy bone marrow stem cells into the patient. It replaces bone marrow that is either not working properly or has been destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation.

Dixon-Patterson said her sister Dee Dee has undergone one round of chemotherapy, which kept her in the hospital for 22 days, and soon will begin another round of chemotherapy sessions five to seven days a month for the next seven to eight months.

“It’s going to be a long process for her,” she said.

Dixon-Patterson said the chemotherapy sessions have taken a toll on her family including Rund’s husband Kevin and their two daughters Morgan, age 16, who attends Heritage Hall and Emmery, 11, who attends St. Mary’s Episcopal School.

“My sister is doing as best as she can be doing,” Dixon-Patterson said. “Her family is doing well as can be under the circumstances.”

For more information call Dixon-Patterson at 348-8605 or via e-mail at amber@okcabstract.com or on Facebook by inserting Help Save Dee Dee Dixon Rund-Mom, Wife & President of OKC Abstract.

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