Team Teri

If you don’t think leukemia can happen to someone in the medical community or to the wife of a well-known doctor, think again.

Meet Teresa Li. Close friends and family like to call her Teri. She’s been happily married to her husband for 37 years and currently has two beautifully grown children.

Teri and her family

A couple of years ago at an APAMSA (Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association) National Conference in Washington, D.C., she and her husband, Dr. B Li, gave blood samples to join the National Marrow Donor Program. Never in a million years would she have even imagined that she would need to be on the receiving end of a “gift of life” from someone else. On February 10, 2010 Teri was diagnosed with AML (acute myelogenous leukemia).

I was incredibly astounded to hear from AADP (Asian American Donor Program) that she still has not located a marrow donor match yet. According to her Facebook Group, Teri writes quite eloquently that education has always been her passion. She has tutored in inner city schools, taught Navajo children in New Mexico, and been a continual source of inspiration to youth in the Midwest.

In her spare time, she volunteers at food pantries and shelters for women. She’s also affiliated with the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. The list doesn’t end. While she is going through a major diagnosis, Teri also takes care of her father-in-law who just turned 90 years old this past May.

Please take the time to share Teri’s story with your friends and family. If you are a high school teacher please think about encouraging your seniors to join the registry when they turn 18. I urge you all to take 10 seconds out of your life to begin circulating the following website … especially those of  you who are social media experts: http://www.teamteri.org