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:

 

[Morph]

I hope you find your person.
God Bless.

 

[toughguy]

All the best Armstrong and ur cousin..

I wish you will find the person soon..

Thanks,

 

[maroulis]

My prayers and wishes rest with Christine and her family. I am an organ donor myself but I'm not much for little Christine..

I've taken the initiative on copy + pasting the same message at my forum also.... just in case somebody knows somebody...

 

[faisj]

May god stand by your side and I hope that all will be fine soon!!!

Goodluck and my thoughts are with Christine and her family.

 

[Mark]

God Bless her - My hopes and prayers for a matching Donor are with her ...

 

[weblord]

God is the Healer, and He can heal your cousin Christine and restore her body. In Jesus' Name Amen! He is Jehovah Raphah - the God That Heals - Isaiah 53:5

 

[bentong]

My prayers for christine and her family...

 

[charbar]

....God Bless her....never give up hope!......

 

[-db-]

I'm not Filipino so a donor match is out, but I'm adding her to my prayers and sending good vibes in her direction. It's difficult to find the appropriate words for this situation...

 

[Eric]

May God bless her. My hopes and prayers are with her and family. Will spread the word wherever I can.

 

[swimjenni]

Good Luck! I'm not Filipino so I'm out but if I see someone that is I'll tell them. It will all work out fine, just keep your head up. My prayers are with you and your family.

 

[Dave_Z]

Apollo, I've numerous relatives there. I'll let them know and hopefully one of
them will be the answer to your loved ones' prayers!

 

[Michelle]

No words I can find only I will pray

 

[yumi]

Best wishes to you.

 

[photoshopfreak]

I really hope you find someone to donate...

All the best to your cousin & family...

 

[Virgil]

My prayers go to your cousin. I'll send your message to friends in my mailing list. If they aren't able to help, maybe they know someone who can.

 

[Masahiro]

If I was Filipino, I'd be contacting you right now.

But because I'm not, all I can offer you is that I really do hope you find a match.

 

[JFS]

i hope you find someone that can help your cousin :\

 

[deu12000]

I'm interested in donating bone marrow or at least finding out more. I didn't realize it was such an easy process. I'm not Filipino, but is there any possibility that a Hispanic can have a match? I know that some Filipino's have Spanish blood. I'm going to look into this and see how I can donate and find out more information.

 

[Chris]

I'm very sorry to hear about your cousin, Apollo. I'll definitely keep her and your family in my thoughts and prayers and hope that she finds a donor match right away.

Word of mouth is the quickest way to get a message out to the mass population, so everybody please pass it on to everyone you know.

Just let me know if I can be of any help.

 

[armstrong]

Friends, your response is amazing! Thank you.

I'm interested in donating bone marrow or at least finding out more. I didn't realize it was such an easy process. I'm not Filipino, but is there any possibility that a Hispanic can have a match? I know that some Filipino's have Spanish blood. I'm going to look into this and see how I can donate and find out more information.

Excellent, Deu! :tu: You're theory is plausible. Also, even if you aren't a match for Christine, you might be able to help some other person, possibly another Hispanic. I imagine all minorities in the US have similar problems in finding matching bone marrow donors.

 

[sunken]

Not filipino, but I hope she finds her match and that all works out for her. Have you tried maybe contacting the embassy there, or maybe finding some filipino visited forums that might be able to help? Just some thoughts...

 

[gchick]

God Bless her.....Im a filipino but im not in the US. I'll tell my friends about this. maybe they could help out. My prayers to her and her family. God is a healer so dont lose hope

 

[BillyConnite]

Best of luck to you and your cousin armstrong, I hope you find your donor, your cousin is most certainly in our prayers. I wish I could help. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who is filipino. I'll be reading up on this. Again, best wishes mate.