Public Service Announcement - Personal
A very important msg from my friend Lindsi
*******
Hey Everyone -
Sorry for the mass email. I don’t think I’ve ever sent one before, and if I
didn’t have a really good reason to do it, I wouldn’t (and shan’t ever
again).
About 11 months ago, a girl I grew up with, Marie, was diagnosed with acute
myelogenic leukemia. After two rounds of chemo, she was accepted into a
treatment program at Stanford. She came back about three months ago, and
slowly regained her health. She was admitted to the hospital on the 11th of
this month. The cancer is back, and her best hope lies in finding a match
in the existing marrow donor registry, although the possibility exists that
the chemo will kill all the cancer cells, and her body will remember how to
reproduce the white cells normally.
For those of you that don’t know, AML is a blood-born cancer (like all other
leukemias), but this form is extremely virulent, and usually strikes adults
over the age of 50 (Marie is a month younger than I am). In this form of
cancer, although no tumors form, the white blood cells forget how to
reproduce correctly, and these cells rarely reach full maturity. Over time,
the overproduction of these cells stops other things in the body from
functioning correctly.
If you aren’t already registered, please consider going to your nearest
donor center to add yourself to the marrow registry. It’s a committment,
and you shouldn’t do it if you’re not comfortable with the idea of actually
*being* a donor for anyone who might be a match. If you are, I’m including
some information below to help you find your nearest donor center. I’ve
already registered, through a donor drive for someone else, but I’m not a
match, neither are any of Marie’s immediate family members.
http://www.marrow.org/cgi-bin/NETWORK/map.pl?ctr_typ=DC
http://www.bonemarrowtest.com/patient_services/calendar_of_drives/index.asp?ID=61
In the Bay Area (or as close as I could find) there are:
11.16 Monterey Park 10:00a
11.22 Sacramento 09:30a
Here’s information about it taken from another site.
You can schedule an appointment to get your blood work done here:
American Red Cross N. California (Oakland)
6230 Claremont Avenue
510.654.2924 x5174
Blood Centers of the Pacific (San Francisco)
270 Masonic Avenue
415.749.6651
264 Bush Street @ Sansome, Suite 136
Thanks,
Lindsi
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