Please read this.
One of my friends needs help; she only has a year to
live. If you know anyone who can aid, please contact
the e-mail address below.
thanks all UG members.
Dear friends of Christine,
My name is Jake and I am a very good friend of
Christine.
I'm sorry to write with such upsetting news. Shortly
before
Christmas, Christine had to go in for another biopsy.
We got the
results, and the news is not good. It turns out that
her cancer is
back.
Medically, the only option Christine has left is an
allogenic Bone
Marrow
Transplant. The survival rate of this procedure is
30-40%. Of those
who do
survive the procedure itself, only 50% survive the
next two years.
However,
her doctors say that if she does survive those two
years, it means the
cancer won't come back.
This is a pretty terrible option. However, the non-
medical option is
also horrible. Her doctor says that if she does not
to have the
Bone Marrow Transplant, she has less than a year to
live.
I'm sorry to dump such upsetting news on everyone, but
I now need your
help.
I need to find her a bone marrow donor.
This is hard enough for the average person. There are
over 20,000
types of bone marrow, so the average person has a 1 in
20,000 chance
of finding a match. These numbers are even worse for
Christine.
Because she is Filipino, she needs to find a donor of
the same ethnic
background, and there are hardly any Filipinos on the
National
Registry.
Right now is our best chance of having the Bone Marrow
Transplant work.
Every day we lose her chances of surviving drop.
So please, contact your friends, and ask them to
contact their
friends. Anyone you know who is all or part Filipino
and between the
ages
of 18 and 61 is a potential donor. The system is
nationwide, so it
doesn't
matter where they live. Signing up on the registry
is easy and
painless.
All it requires is a simple blood test. Some
hospitals
charge a small fee for this blood test, however the
fee is routinely
waived for minorities, and often for Caucasians as
well, especially if
you are willing to donate a pint of blood.
You can find a registration center by selecting your
state on the map
on this website. These centers can refer you to bone
marrow drives in
your community.
http://www.marrow.org/cgi-bin/NETWORK/map.pl?ctr_typ=
DC
There is also a wonderful organization in Los Angeles
that arranges
free registration for Filipino donors.
If you have trouble finding a site in your area, or
have additional
questions, you can reach me at this email address.
Please, also send an email to let me know when you've
registered so
that we can keep track of the response.
You can reassure your friends that signing up for the
registry does
not require donating any bone marrow. If it turns out
they are a
match, they will be contacted, and can make the
decision at that point
about becoming a donor.
There are lots of misconceptions about donating bone
marrow. (I know
I was terrified of doing it before I learned how minor
the procedure
actually is.) The procedure is simple and safe. You
will be
anesthetized the whole time, so you will not feel
anything. When the
procedure is over, you may have some soreness in the
area for a day or
two
and you may feel a little tired. That's it. The
bone marrow
you donate is replenished within 3-4 weeks. And
again, you will only
undergo this procedure if your blood sample shows that
you are a match
and you decide to donate, in which case the slight
soreness you'll be
feeling will be saving someone's life.
All medical expenses for the donor will be covered by
Christine's
insurance. And as I mentioned before, if they have
any trouble
finding a place to donate for free, they can contact
me and I will
find one for them.
Here's my email address again:
You can find out more about the registry and the
donation procedure at
this website:
We are exploring alternative methods of treatment as
well. So if you
know of anyone who's had success treating cancer with
any methods,
please let me know so I can pass the information on to
Christine.
Finally, a request from Christine. If it fits with
your beliefs,
she'd like you to say a prayer for her tonight.
Thanks so much for your help,
Jake
PS. Regardless of your ethnic background, if you're
interested in
donating
please feel free to contact me. You can save someone
elseÂ's life by
joining
the registry in ChristineÂ's honor.