SoCal's mother who battled cancer during pregnancy again has leukemia and needs another bone marrow donor

LOS ANGELES – For Susie Rabaca, a patient with leukemia, these six months have been a roller coaster of joy and sorrow.

In December, after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, Rabaca gave birth to twins Ryan and Rainey. But after miraculously matching a bone marrow transplant and undergoing surgery a few weeks later, the cancer has re-emerged.

"It was devastating because I just had a transplant in January and I re-offended so quickly that I had to find another donor," Rabaca said.

When we met Rabaca for the first time in November, she had been pregnant with twins for 8 months and had just been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

She needed a 100% bone marrow transplant, but her mixed heritage made it difficult to search for a donor. His call to find a bone marrow donor has traveled the world and 85,000 people have signed up for Be The Match, an organization that connects people who need a bone marrow transplant with donors. Now, the urgency behind her work with Be The Match is accelerating because she needs a second donor with a 100% match.

Rabaca twins Ryan and Rainy are healthy and happy, as are his other children.

She said that she was fighting for all her children so that she could defeat this brutal disease.

"I was very discouraged for the second time, but I'm looking at their little faces and I know I have to put pressure on them and my other children," Rabaca said.

To register to the Be The Match Register to help people like Rabaca, click here.

More information on the possibility of becoming a potential donor of blood stem cells is available here.