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Sydney Brown was born earlier this summer as her father fights for his life. Her dad, Mitchell Brown of East Brunswick, has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

He’s been through several rounds of chemotherapy to treat the cancer, but the results “are not as good as they (medical professionals) thought they’d be,” said his mother, Hedy Brown. He’s also had surgery to remove some of the cancer and his spleen.

“Now, plan B is a new form of chemotherapy for four more weeks,” she said in a telephone interview with The Jewish State from her East Brunswick home. “If he goes into remission, then maybe they’ll be able to do a stem cell transplant.”

While doctors can do a transplant using Mitchell’s own cells, doctors are also looking for a donor. To that end, his friends and family members are getting tested and asking for others to take a DNA swab test too.

Mitchell actually explained his condition on the family Web site: “After meeting with a team of doctors, it was decided that my greatest chance of survival would be to start a new regimen of Chemotherapy called R-IVAC, followed by what is called a Blood Stem Cell Transplant. This new Chemotherapy is a different group of drugs with a much higher potency aimed at killing any and all remaining cancer cells.

“Because of the potency of these drugs, I will need to be admitted to the hospital while undergoing treatments. Each treatment will last five days with a two week recovery in between. Soon after my treatments, I will have another scan of my body to determine the success of the R-IVAC. Depending on the results, I will then need one of two types of Blood Stem Cell Transplants.”

Mitchell continued: “If my next scan shows that any and all remaining cancer cells have been destroyed, then there is a possibility that I will undergo what is called an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant. This is where my own stem cells are removed from my blood and one last ultra high dose of Chemotherapy is given to me. This dose of Chemotherapy is so strong that it will wipe out most, if not all, of the remaining cells in my body, including all of my white blood cells, which make up my immune system.

“It is for this reason that my stem cells are collected ahead of time, so that they can be given back to me after this last dose of Chemotherapy. Shortly after my stem cells are returned to me, they will hopefully start to regenerate and grow new white blood cells along with a new immune system. This, of course, is the best case scenario and doesn’t involve anyone else. If after my next scan, there are any residual cancer cells remaining in my body, I will need what is called an Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant. And this is where I need your help.”

Since time is of the essence, Hedy said the family is asking for potential donors to go directly through Labcorp instead of a national donor registry service. Working directly with the medical lab is costly, she said. The test costs roughly $150 and is not covered by insurance. Friends are helping out by raising money to help pay some of the lab costs as well as the families’ expenses. The first fund-raiser they’ve organized will be a bake sale on Labor Day, Sept. 7, at Dickerson Park in East Brunswick during a soccer tournament.

“Mitchell played soccer since he was 6 years old,” his mother said. “He played on the high school varsity team, so it’s great to connect the fund-raiser to soccer.”

Brown, who was diagnosed in April, played for the East Brunswick Soccer Club and was a member of the 1977 Arrows travel team. He is employed as a project manager for a Manhattan construction firm but has been unable to work since his diagnosis of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in April of 2009.

Volunteers have arranged to bake or purchase goods to sell as well as operate the book, she said. They’ll also take donations.

“Mitchell and his wife Jill were high school sweethearts,” Hedy said. “Now their family includes 3-year-old Jack and (as of press time) two-month-old Sydney. The 3-year-old went to Temple B’nai Shalom day camp this summer and the grandmother is a synagogue member at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick.

Hedy said she’s grateful for monetary donations but “all the money in the world won’t help if we don’t find a donor. He’s a phenomenal young man.”

Hedy said she and others would if someone is interested in donating stem cells contact Labcorp directly instead of going through a national registry program such as Gift of Life. She said the goal of working directly with the lab is to speed the process along as there won’t be much time between when he finishes the next round of chemo and is hopefully in remission and when surgery must take place.

Anyone who has been tested through a National Registry such as the Gift of Life -- (561) 982-2900 -- or the National Marrow Donor Program -- (800) 627-7692 -- and ask to have one’s HLA Typing (match probability) faxed directly to Carolanne Carini at (201) 996-5691.

In a letter he published on the helpmitchell.com Web site, Brown wrote, “My family and I thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and support as I battle this disease. With your help, I can win.”

For more information contact the Web site his friends have created at www.helpmitchell.com.