Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Dude, where's my bone marrow?

"Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi Donors are urgently needed to help Pia Awal, a 29 year-old educator. Pia has been diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) and is in immediate need of a stem cell blood, or bone marrow, transplant."

I've done this years ago, when a young Bangladeshi girl in New York needed a bone marrow donor and could not find anyone in her family. The Bangladeshi community in the Delaware Valley got together, and each person donated a tube of blood to the Red Cross for testing at the Springfield High School. Ok, I know y'all are greedy..... so if the possibility of saving another human being's life isn't enough incentive, they usually have donuts too. Mmmmm donuts :)

And it's also a good place to meet girls. Right ladies? "Aww, look at him! A cute AND socially conscious brother.... not only does he recycle but he is a bone marrow donor too!"

It doesn't hurt at all, and they take less blood than the pint they take for blood donations. After they have your tissue tested, you are registered permanently, and they will contact you if they find a match. The Red Cross says that it is more likely to find a tissue match in your family or someone of your same race group. The happy ending to this story is that my Shireen auntie in Maryland turned out to be a match for the little girl in New York and now she is alive.

If you have already had your tissue tested once, you do not need to have it done again, you are already registered with the Red Cross.

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