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:

 

[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

 

[yeppers]

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.

 

[988]

I am a filipino, although i dont live in the us but im in and out of the us. There are big filipino communities in LA, San Diego, Riverside and of course San Jose/SF area. I suggest contacting all the filipino news papers in the area.. and there are lots and i mean lots of them. Perhaps they will be able to help you. I also suggest standing outside of big filipino grocery stores and restaurants like seafood city, goldilocks and max just to name a few and handing out flyers and talk to the ppl. Effective way also is post them up flyers at all the filipino shops in the area. I know there are hundreds maybe thousands but what ever it takes.

 

[Ringr]

I am not Filipino, and I really hate to say it - but to be perfectly honest, I do not know anyone that is Filipino. There has to be someone, somewhere out there that will be a perfect match. Don't give up any hope, and like cavinti said - maybe Christine and you could make an effort to put something in community newspapers in highly-concentrated Filipino populated areas. Sorry I am of no help as I am not Filipino, nor know anyone that is - but I am offering my prayers and hope that Christine will find someone. There is someone out there, it's just a matter of trying to make a connection with them.

Best of luck,
Andy

 

[obenix]

My prayers with Christine. Armstrong, if you don't mind, I have added the call for help in my sig and hope to gain more publicity in Namepros.

 

[se]

All the best to your cousin, my best wishes and prayers.

 

[Shorty]

You're a credit to your family by searching so actively for a donor. I believe in karma - if you're this good and are so righteous, what you want will come to you. Good luck to your cousin.

 

[Humdizzy]

Good luck dude. I know tons of filipinos but they are all under 18. I'll try to get them to show this thread to their parents or relatives.

 

[LeetPCUser]

I am sorry to hear this. If I was of Fillipino decent I would go in and see if mine would match. Good luck finding a donor.

 

[swimjenni]

I am a filipino, although i dont live in the us but im in and out of the us. There are big filipino communities in LA, San Diego, Riverside and of course San Jose/SF area. I suggest contacting all the filipino news papers in the area.. and there are lots and i mean lots of them. Perhaps they will be able to help you. I also suggest standing outside of big filipino grocery stores and restaurants like seafood city, goldilocks and max just to name a few and handing out flyers and talk to the ppl. Effective way also is post them up flyers at all the filipino shops in the area. I know there are hundreds maybe thousands but what ever it takes.

RJ is from the bay are, maybe he could get some flyers out if you aren't able to.

 

[Rom]

I hope you'll find a right person.

God Bless Her!

I also purchased a Stickie for this topic, I hope it will help.

 

[armstrong]

Thanks, Rom. Thanks everyone!

EDIT: It turns out that requesting people to send us their donor numbers is
not only unnecessary, but also illegal. It seems there was a miscommunication with the woman who is doing Christine's match. Sorry!

Thank you again for all your help.

 

[dc1pop]

Good luck Apollo. Best wishes to all concerned!

 

[gio~logist]

There's really nothing that one can say to make the current situation any easier on your or your family. However, what i can say is that i truly hope that help is found for your cousin and that all goes well. In times like these, i guess all we can do is remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

With the best of wishes,
Giovanni Martinez

 

[True_Snake]

I really am hoping for the best, Apollo. I hope your cousin finds the donor. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.


True_Snake

 

[Camron]

I greatly hope you find someone.
God bless you.

 

[cvxdes]

Well I can't do anything to help phisically, so I bought 1500 hits for this thread.