URGENT: Please help save my cousin's life

[armstrong]

My cousin Christine in the US is battling cancer, and urgently needs to find a bone marrow donor. Unfortunately, finding a perfect match for her bone marrow type is particularly difficult. 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 US National Registry.

Right now is our best chance of having the Bone Marrow Transplant work. Each day's delay decreases her chances of surviving. Please contact your Filipino friends or relatives in the US, 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.

www.asianmarrow.org

If you have trouble finding a site in your area, have any trouble finding a place to donate for free, or have additional questions, you can reach Christine's boyfriend Jacob at this email address:

info [at] christine.site.ph

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. The procedure is considered minor, 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 marrowyou 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.

You can find out more about the registry and the donation procedure at this website:

www.marrow.org

Thank you!

Apollo a.k.a. "armstrong" :hearts:

 

[armstrong]

I'm glad Christine is doing better!

Everyone could sign using their mouse in Microsoft Paint or whatever program they want/have and then save as an image. Then email all the images and place in word. Print out and its very long signed card. Just an idea...

Very doable. We could start with a 1024x768 canvas, and everyone could just submit signed messages. I can just photoshop each new submission in order. Folks should submit either transparent (preferred) or white background, to facilitate image integration.

 

[Alex.]

theres a site, i think called paint.com, where you can make a picture and pass it on.
this could be replicated.

 

[armstrong]

Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 07:34:24 -0000

Last week began the celebration of my 35th year. The year that doctors said I probably would never see.

It began with a take-off. Literally. Barak took me up in his plane and handed over the controls as we sped down the runway and took off into the sky. We soared above Los Angeles, flying over the Getty Center, past the Hollywood sign, zipping past clouds, sailing beyond the Griffith Observatory, around the downtown skyline, over freeway traffic, along the shoreline, past the Santa Monica Pier and over Mulholland.

The big blue sky was all ours. It was the first time I forgot. Forgot about what the doctors said. Forgot about my limitations. Forgot about the difficulties of the past year. Forgot about hospitals and needles, marrow and mortality. Completely forgot that I was ever sick. For the first time in over a year, slicing through sunrays and rushing air,
I felt invincible and.... free.

The week followed with a number of tête-à-têtes, tearful hugs and toasts to life. Mark took me to my first Sushi meal in almost a year and I nearly fainted when the sashimi melted in my mouth.

A miracle wish came true on my Birthday weekend. Not many people know this but with Poper's urging, I'm going to share this little intimate story. My last wish before the transplant was to be in nature. A few girlfriends and I went up to a cabin in the woods. While we were there, we had a picnic along a mountain stream. I sat on a large river stone while we all cried and prayed together. I didn't want to leave. I was afraid to leave. I was afraid of everything that was waiting for me at the bottom of the mountain. I was afraid of dying. Then suddenly I thought, "Screw this!" and I prayed and made a wish. I said out loud that I would return someday to the very same spot and put my hand back in the same stream, in good health, with no complications from the transplant, and completely cured of cancer. This past Sunday, seven months and seven days later, that very wish came true. I also returned to a giant boulder where 10 months before I had shouted at the top of my lungs. With Barak, we both spread our arms out to the sky and inspired by Whitman, sounded our barbaric yawps over the rooftops. I am probably one of the only women in the world who is ECSTATIC to turn 35. I say it with a huge smile on my face. And I look forward to celebrating 45, 55, 65, 75, 105.

Birthdays are blessings.

Much Love,

Christine Pechera

P.S. More good news: Marrow is good. Body is getting stronger. Blood counts are steadily moving up.

"May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy." -unknown

To everyone who helped, sympathized, and prayed with us: thank you!

Our damsel in distress is saved. :tu:

 

[bentong]

Great to hear the news Apollo!

 

[edmarriner]

Great to hear the news Apollo!

x 2

So glad she seems to be pulling/pulled through!

cheers,
-ed

 

[-Adam-]

Thats great news!

 

[Mark07]

To everyone who helped, sympathized, and prayed with us: thank you!

Our damsel in distress is saved. :tu:

I'm new at the forums but it always feels good to hear something like that.

GOD BLESS ALL.

Cheers!!