There are certain times in life when one realizes that it is time to take action and this is one of those moments for me. I do not know Nina Polvanich Louie (Stanford Alumna, HBS Alumna), but she is a childhood friend of a friend of mine, so that’s good enough for me to vouch for this campaign: Nina needs a bone marrow donor…now (June/July 2013): she has not found a match in the national bone marrow registry, so after two months of searching with no luck, she went public in early June 2013. A friend of Nina has set up a website, savenina/, to help focus the donor drive – all you need to do is order a free home testing kit (you swab your mouth – takes 5 minutes) and return the kit: join.bethematch.org/viniya If you live in the Los Angeles, San Francisco or NYC areas, there are local drives (see below links). I personally cannot take the test because I myself am a cancer survivor who underwent a bone marrow transplant back in Nov 2012 to treat Multiple Myeloma. I was lucky to be able to have an “autologous” bone marrow stem cell transplant that used my “own” bone marrow. I am thankfully in full remission (many thanks to friends and family who gave me the strength to complete all the medical procedures). Nina, on the other hand, needs an “allogenic” transplant, which means she needs another person to donate bone marrow. The donation process itself is quite simple and it is explained at this link: bethematch.org/Registry_Members/Donation/Steps_of_Donation.aspx There are two techniques to “harvest” the bone marrow cells – I had the PBSC method, which was very easy: lay in a hospital bed for 4 hours a day and watch TV/listen to music. Depending upon how many cells are harvested each day, the procedure can take 3 days to two weeks (your mileage may vary…) Thank you for taking the time to read this… Best, Stacey =============================== Savenina savenina/ Our dear friend Nina Polvanich Louie has lymphoma, and she has only 2 months to find a bone marrow donor. Lymphoma can be treated, but Nina has not found a match in the registry. You can help by getting typed with a free home typing kit, join.bethematch.org/viniya or by getting typed in person at a local drive in Los Angeles asianmarrow.org/index.php/donor/list-of-drives San Francisdo, aadp.org/drive/ or NYC, samarinfo.org/drivecalender.asp or going to a recruitment center across the US or Internationally, and by helping to spread the word. The process to find a match is simple – with a kit (at home or at a drive), swab your cheek and then send the swab back in. That’s it! With just a few minutes of your time, you can find out if you are eligible in saving not just Nina but anyone suffering from blood cancers or other related diseases. Thanks to the overwhelming support, all home kits will be expedited for Nina, but the fastest way to help is to get typed at a local drive. Thank you for helping to save Nina! About Nina tipatat/savenina/nina.html Learn about Donating: bethematch.org/Registry_Members/Donation/Steps_of_Donation.aspx Steps of Bone Marrow or PBSC (peripheral blood stem cells) Donation The first step to becoming a bone marrow donor is to join the Be The Match Registry®. Thousands of patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell and other life-threatening diseases need a bone marrow transplant. Doctors search the Be The Match Registry to find donors who match their patients. If you match a patient, you will be asked to donate either bone marrow or cells from circulating blood (known as PBSC donation). Understanding the donation process will help you be ready to donate. Neontommy article neontommy/news/2013/06/bone-marrow-campaign-attracts-thousands-looking-help ========================end
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:14:02 +0000
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