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Desperately needed: Marrow/Peripheral Blood Stem Cell donors

 
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mamalam



Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 27

PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:45 pm    Post subject: Desperately needed: Marrow/Peripheral Blood Stem Cell donors Reply with quote

Hi,

I am an avid windsurfer. I often sail in the Bay and Waddell.

I'm writing this in search of help for my younger sister, Viet Lam.

Viet's life has been one filled with amazing wonders and many journeys made possible exclusively by the kindness and generosity of strangers. She survived Communist Vietnam without parental guidance, and defected from her native land as a "boat person" at the age of 11. After years of trials and tribulations, living in Southeast Asian refugee camps and residing in foster homes in Michigan, Viet successfully graduated from college then medical school. She went into internal medicine to fulfill her dream to give back to her community and to service her fellow citizens during their time of need.

Only three years after her medical training was completed, Viet's medical practice was unexpectedly interrupted when she was diagnosed with widespread lymphoma. Under the great care of her doctors and their teams, Viet was successfully treated and was in remission for 14 months but then relapsed in 2009. Her condition has progressively worsened and her only option for treatment is a bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell transplant. Currently, there is no match available.

This journey has proven to be her toughest. Once again, she will rely on the kindness of strangers for a second chance in life. She is a vibrant, kind, dignified, and caring person.

There is a tremendous need for individuals willing to be bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell donors, particularly those of minority and mixed ethnicity such as Asian, South Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander. If you are healthy, please consider becoming a donor.

"Patients are most likely to match someone who shares their racial and ethnic background. Today, all Asian groups combined reflect only seven percent of the registry as a whole" and those of Vietnamese ethnicity comprises the least. Viet is 3/4 Vietnamese and 1/4 Chinese.

The probability of matching an unrelated donor is one in a million. Viet is fully aware that her chance to find a match is slim. However, she still wishes to increase awareness of this tremendous need, increase national registry donors, and potentially increase the probability of finding a match for many others who share her predicament.

An online drive is available with Viet's code as Viet2010 http://join.bethematch.org/viet2010

We are currently working on organizing drives for Viet and other patients needing bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell transplants. Please help us spread the word and let us know if you have ideas, social contacts or avenues which could improve our chances of successful drives.

For those people of childbearing age, there is a cord blood donation program in the national registry as well.

Thank you very much for your time, consideration, and kindness.

To keep you up to date on Viet, I created a CaringBridge website. You can follow Viet’s progress and show your support.
Visit Viet’s website in two easy ways:

1. Visit the CaringBridge website by clicking the link below.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/vietlam

2. Enter the website name, vietlam, at www.CaringBridge.org.
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