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| Christine
November 4, 2005
5:07:20 PM
Entry #: 1126663
| HI Everyone!
I hope all is well. I just wanted to inform everyone of a Bone marrow drive that will be held to help people with leukemia on November 13th at St. Thomas Church in West Bloomfield and November 20th at Mother of God Church in Southfield.
I can't stress enough, how important it is for everyone to join the Bone Marrow Registry!!! Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and many patients need a bone marrow transplant to survive. In order for the transplant to be successful the bone marrow characteristics of the donor must match those of the patient. Many people get lucky and find a match within their family and the remainder who do not, turn to the registry to find a match.
Characteristics of the bone marrow are inherited so the only hope for finding a match is by turning to people of your same ethnic background. At this time minorities, including people of Middle Eastern descent, are underrepresented in the registry and that decreases the chances of finding a match for Middle Eastern Leukemia patients.
As a part of the Middle Eastern community we need to come together and build a registry that will help save many peoples lives!!
The way it works is you come to the drive, fill out a questionnaire and give a sample of blood (it's just a finger poke) and then the blood is tested and the results are put into a database, the National Bone Marrow Registry. The National Bone Marrow Registry is used by doctors to search for possible bone marrow donors for their patients who are awaiting a bone marrow transplant to live.
The National Marrow Donor Program is doing the testing and unfortunately they do not have funding, so we are asking the Middle Eastern Community to come together and volunteer to join the registry, possibly help save a life and pay for the cost of the testing which is $65.
If you would like more information please e-mail me at CLOUSSIA@AOL.COM or contact me at 248-305-5676. Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested in helping. All are welcome to join the registry but Chaldeans and Middle Eastern descendents are encouraged!!
Best Regards,
Christine Loussia
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