A chance to save a life
As many of you know, my sister-in-law had a second recurrence of leukemia. She has been given a year to live. The only thing that can save her is a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, no one in her family is a match, and neither is anyone currently on the national bone marrow registry.
Below is a letter from my sister-in-law's mother, explaining how one can become a bone marrow donor. I can't because I'm a breast cancer survivor. Hopefully someone out there is a match for Kristin.
I want to let all of you know that the doctors checked Kristin’s chromosomes to see what might be going on and they found cancer cells - so the roller coaster continues for all of us. Kristin started out-patient experimental chemo last week and this time the diagnosis will not change. Our backs being proverbially up against the wall, a bone marrow transplant is the best hope for Kristin to beat this thing and we are asking everyone we know to join the National Bone Marrow Registry, which is where hospitals go to look for a match for patients who need transplants.
To register to be a bone marrow donor, go to the website www.marrow.org and click on "Join the registry." The site will ask for you to create a login and password, as well as your mailing address, and then will give you a short questionnaire to complete. Once it is confirmed that you meet the requirements to become a bone marrow donor, you will be able to complete your registration and they will send a "kit" to your address. All you have to do once you receive the kit is to swab the inside of your cheek and send your swabs back in the provided, postage-paid envelope.
We want to stress that donating to the registry is 100% FREE. The website will give you a chance to donate money to their cause (if you are so inclined) and it may look like they are charging money to send you a kit but they are not. Again, there is no charge for anything involved in donating to the registry.
We also understand that there are a lot of misconceptions about bone marrow transplants and what they entail. If you have any questions about what happens if you are a match, please look at http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Myths_%26_Facts_about_Marrow_Don/index.html. Transplant donation is done one of two ways: Either through a PBSC donation, where stem cells are donated using the same method used to donate blood, or by taking bone marrow from your hip bone, which is done under general anesthesia and may result in some back soreness for a few days. In both cases it is an out-patient procedure and the donor usually goes home the same day.
We also want to point out that there if you or someone you know is pregnant, there has been a great leap forward in using the stem cells found in umbilical cord blood to help battle blood cancers when no bone marrow matches can be found. Please consider donating cord blood cells if you have the opportunity. To read more about how umbilical cord blood donations are changing lives and giving hope to cancer patients, please visit www.marrow.org and click on "Go" in the "Donate Cord Blood" section.
A bone marrow transplant is often a life-saving procedure, but the truth is that 70% of patients who need bone marrow transplants do not have a suitable donor in their family. The hospital has been unsuccessfully looking for a match since Kristin's leukemia first showed up, which is why we hope that all of you and your children and friends will consider becoming a donor for Kristin. The more people that join the registry, the better chance we have to find a suitable match. You can take your name off the registry at any time and, of course, any donation is always voluntary.
We need everyone to consider this life saving donation. Right now we are just concentrating on the chemo that will get Kristin back into remission, which is necessary for her to be a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. When that time comes, the donor needs to already be in place, so time is of the essence. Once you send in your kit it takes about 6 weeks to test your tissue sample and get on the registry, so we ask that if you would like to join the registry, you do it as soon as possible. If you’re not interested in joining the registry but know someone who might be, please encourage them to do so.
Again, the website gives you lots of information about the donor process as well as the procedure, so if you have any questions at all please explore www.marrow.org or call the number they provide to talk to someone.
Please keep Kristin and the whole family in your thoughts and prayers and, hopefully, we’ll get that miracle this time with your help. Please forward this email to anyone you can!
Best,
Jan
Below is a letter from my sister-in-law's mother, explaining how one can become a bone marrow donor. I can't because I'm a breast cancer survivor. Hopefully someone out there is a match for Kristin.
I want to let all of you know that the doctors checked Kristin’s chromosomes to see what might be going on and they found cancer cells - so the roller coaster continues for all of us. Kristin started out-patient experimental chemo last week and this time the diagnosis will not change. Our backs being proverbially up against the wall, a bone marrow transplant is the best hope for Kristin to beat this thing and we are asking everyone we know to join the National Bone Marrow Registry, which is where hospitals go to look for a match for patients who need transplants.
To register to be a bone marrow donor, go to the website www.marrow.org and click on "Join the registry." The site will ask for you to create a login and password, as well as your mailing address, and then will give you a short questionnaire to complete. Once it is confirmed that you meet the requirements to become a bone marrow donor, you will be able to complete your registration and they will send a "kit" to your address. All you have to do once you receive the kit is to swab the inside of your cheek and send your swabs back in the provided, postage-paid envelope.
We want to stress that donating to the registry is 100% FREE. The website will give you a chance to donate money to their cause (if you are so inclined) and it may look like they are charging money to send you a kit but they are not. Again, there is no charge for anything involved in donating to the registry.
We also understand that there are a lot of misconceptions about bone marrow transplants and what they entail. If you have any questions about what happens if you are a match, please look at http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Myths_%26_Facts_about_Marrow_Don/index.html. Transplant donation is done one of two ways: Either through a PBSC donation, where stem cells are donated using the same method used to donate blood, or by taking bone marrow from your hip bone, which is done under general anesthesia and may result in some back soreness for a few days. In both cases it is an out-patient procedure and the donor usually goes home the same day.
We also want to point out that there if you or someone you know is pregnant, there has been a great leap forward in using the stem cells found in umbilical cord blood to help battle blood cancers when no bone marrow matches can be found. Please consider donating cord blood cells if you have the opportunity. To read more about how umbilical cord blood donations are changing lives and giving hope to cancer patients, please visit www.marrow.org and click on "Go" in the "Donate Cord Blood" section.
A bone marrow transplant is often a life-saving procedure, but the truth is that 70% of patients who need bone marrow transplants do not have a suitable donor in their family. The hospital has been unsuccessfully looking for a match since Kristin's leukemia first showed up, which is why we hope that all of you and your children and friends will consider becoming a donor for Kristin. The more people that join the registry, the better chance we have to find a suitable match. You can take your name off the registry at any time and, of course, any donation is always voluntary.
We need everyone to consider this life saving donation. Right now we are just concentrating on the chemo that will get Kristin back into remission, which is necessary for her to be a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. When that time comes, the donor needs to already be in place, so time is of the essence. Once you send in your kit it takes about 6 weeks to test your tissue sample and get on the registry, so we ask that if you would like to join the registry, you do it as soon as possible. If you’re not interested in joining the registry but know someone who might be, please encourage them to do so.
Again, the website gives you lots of information about the donor process as well as the procedure, so if you have any questions at all please explore www.marrow.org or call the number they provide to talk to someone.
Please keep Kristin and the whole family in your thoughts and prayers and, hopefully, we’ll get that miracle this time with your help. Please forward this email to anyone you can!
Best,
Jan