Asian Woman in Need of Blood Transfusion --- Urgent

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bopgunner

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Joined: Aug 04, 2004
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Posted: Aug 21, 2006 - 04:47 PM
Post subject: Asian Woman in Need of Blood Transfusion --- Urgent

Dear Moderators: Could you please "sticky" this if you could?
My dear family friend is from the USA and is in urgent need of a blood transfusion. Because she is Asian, it is hard to find her blood type in the USA. Below is her information but if you think you can help in anyway please contact me at bopgunner@hotmail.com or e-mail her directly. I have been looking up hospitals and bone marrow specialists and faxing them her blood type and info (I also have that in .jpg form) but to no avail yet..... this is a shot in the dark but i had to try =) Thanks everybody!

Hello, my name is Bonnie Wong. I am 26 and I need your help. I have leukemia, a cancer of the blood. I was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) in February of 2005. I underwent chemotherapy for 9 months. It is now August of 2006 and my cancer cells have come back. My doctor tells me I only have 5 -10% chance of survival; and my only cure is through a non-related donor transplant.

Both my parents and siblings are not a match for my HLA-typing. I can only turn to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry to search for a match. Currently there are 3.6 million people registered with the NMDP; but of the 3.6 million, only about 214,000 are of Asian ethnicity. The Asian donor pool percentage available at the Marrow Registry is so small that the Registry is willing to conduct the HLA - typing for Asians at no cost. Because I am of Asian ethnicity, the chance of finding a donor match is like winning the lottery; the chance for life is like winning the lottery.

It only takes a simple blood test or a cheek swab to see if you are a potential donor. Even if you are not a donor match for me, you could be a potential donor for someone else who is deeply in need for a miracle.

Please, will you consider giving the gift of life?

Registering with the NMDP is easy. I have outlined the process of becoming a donor below. You can also visit the Bone Marrow Registry website at www.marrow.org for more information.

1. The first step to joining the NMDP Registry database is to visit The Blood Center of the Pacific is located on 270 Masonic (cross street Turk) in San Francisco. They are open for drop-ins Mondays thru Fridays from 9:00am to 5:00pm. You can call the Blood Center at 415-567-6400 or Stephanie directly at 415-749-6636 to set up a Saturday appointment or to find a closer blood center near you. You will need to bring your social security # and Driver’s License. On your consent form, you will be asked to provide two names, addresses, and phone numbers of contacts who do not live with you. This will allow the Registry to still be able to contact you in future years if you become a potential match.

2. NMDP will contact you for further blood testing if you are a potential match. You are then provided with more information on the donor process. Informational sessions will also be conducted. Deciding to continue on with the donor process is still your choice.

3. After the information sessions and If you still decide to donate, then NMDP will give you 4-5 daily injections of Filgrastim; a stem cell growth factor medication that increases the number of stem cells released from your marrow. This will prepare your marrow for the aphaeresis procedure.

4. In the past, donors are asked to go through a bone marrow biopsy procedure to extract bone marrow for transplant. Now, the blood centers use a process known as aphaeresis – a simple blood extraction procedure.

5. During aphaeresis, which is done at a blood center or a hospital, your blood is streamed through a sterile needle placed in your vein; then passed through an aphaeresis machine which collects and separates out the stem cells. You may experience some bone pain as a result of receiving the Filgrastim. These effects will diminish over 1-2 days after the last dose of Filgrastim.

Please, consider becoming a donor. Like me, many are fighting leukemia, fighting to live. But without a donor match, even the best doctors in the world can not cure us of this disease. What we need is a true miracle; what we need are donors like you. It will cost you nothing, but it will give what money can never buy.

If you have further questions, please contact Cassidy Wong at cassidywong@hotmail.com

你好! 我叫黃惠楣﹐今年26歲﹐我需要您們的幫助! 去年二月我被醫生驗出患有白血病﹐俗稱血癌。經過九個月的治療﹐今年八月﹐我的癌病復發。醫生判斷我只有5-10%康復機會。骨髓移植是我唯一的生存機會。

很不幸﹐我的家人全部都不能和我的HLA配對﹐我只有求助國際骨髓捐贈中心來找尋配對。現在有360萬人登記捐贈﹐其中只有21萬四千人是亞洲人。因亞洲人的比率這樣低﹐我能配對的機會和中六合彩的機會差不多。只要做一個簡單的口腔棉棒檢查﹐便可知道你的HLA 能否有機會捐贈骨髓給我。要是不適合我﹐仍有可能會適合其他有需要的病人。

您願意給我送贈一個重生的機會嗎?

登記成為捐贈者是很容易的﹐過程也很簡單﹐並無痛楚。你可登上網址www.marrow.org 索取資料﹐或可依照如下方法:
1. 帶同你的工卡號碼和駕駛執照前往捐血中心填寫表格。並用棉花棒在你的口腔內拿取一些細胞樣本來化驗。三藩市中心地址270 Masonic 街夾Turk街。時間星期一至星期五早上9時至5時。電話(415)567-6400 或給Stephanie 電話﹐(415)749-6636﹐來預約星期六時間或找尋一間比較方便你的捐血中心。
2. 如果你有可能配對﹐中心會聯絡以及提供給你更多捐贈資料和程序﹐讓你決定是否還願意捐贈。
3. 如你決定捐贈﹐國際骨髓中心會從你的身體抽出部份血液。從中選出適用的干細胞﹐用來培植﹐將來注入我的體內﹐餘下的血液仍然輸送回你的體內。( 最新的移植方法﹐已經不再需要在骨頭裡抽取骨髓。)

希望你願意成為捐贈者﹐因為有很多像我一樣的病人需要你的幫助﹐如果沒有適合的骨髓﹐最好的醫生也沒有辦法挽救我們﹐我們需要奇跡﹐我們更需要你的捐贈。捐贈不需要金錢付出﹐但捐贈可以給予金錢永遠買不到的東西 - 生命。

如有查詢, 請給電郵到 Cassidywong@hotmail.com, 聯絡我們。

Last edited by bopgunner on Aug 21, 2006 - 05:04 PM; edited 1 time in total