Child needs bone marrow transplant

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April 4, 2005

From the parents of Rajan Vyas, a 6-year-old boy battling leukemia:

You can save the life our our 6 year old little boy, Rajan Vyas, who is suffering from leukemia, and is waiting to receive a potentially curative bone marrow transplant. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. Many Asian-Indians are waiting for a marrow transplant, but currently the bone marrow reigistry has very few Asian-Indian donors. We MUST come together for those in our community, including our neighbors from Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Even if you don’t match Rajan, you can save the life of others waiting for a South Asian donor match. Registering with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP®) is simple:

- You need to be in generally good health
- You are between the ages of 18-60
- You complete a health screening questionnaire
- You painlessly give a small amount of blood for tissue typing

All testing fees are waived for minorities

TESTING IS SIMPLE, PAINLESS, AND COULD SAVE A LIFE
PLEASE GET TESTED TODAY!
Click here to find the donor center in your area

Health and Medicine

POSTED BY apul @ 11:50 PM

9 comments

1 · A N N A on April 5, 2005 12:16 AM · Direct link

i'm terrified of needles-- to the point where i never get flu shots, faint when they do blood work, have enemies at certain Kaiser Permanente medical center labs in NorCal...and i'm on the list.

i had a few chances to volunteer before at drives that were conveniently being held at public events, but i never availed myself b/c of the whole needle thing. when i finally found some balls, i was petrified while waiting in line but mortified after, b/c it was nothing traumatic or difficult at ALL. it took three seconds and i was ashamed of myself for not registering sooner. seriously, you guys. do the right thing. we'll love you even more.

2 · Saurav on April 5, 2005 12:29 AM · Direct link

have enemies at certain Kaiser Permanente medical center labs in NorCal

What?

3 · A N N A on April 5, 2005 12:55 AM · Direct link

b/c i'm so skittish. all the lab people know my mom (who also works for kaiser) so she'd hear all about how i was a pain in the lab (vs where i'm usually a pain). ;)

there's a famous (infamous?) old story about me needing a shot, seeing the size of the needle, running off screaming, parent in hot pursuit...etc. :) i'm reeeeeally scared of needles.

4 · Anon on April 5, 2005 11:04 AM · Direct link

One prick, and its all over..

5 · Manish Vij on April 5, 2005 12:58 PM · Direct link

One prick, and its all over..

There's no need to talk about family planning like that ;)

6 · Maitri on April 5, 2005 1:31 PM · Direct link

Can you believe the g-dforsaken state of LA has no donor centers? Jackson, MS, here I come ... yay. Hey wait, there's one at Baylor in Houston.

7 · Mytri on April 5, 2005 6:12 PM · Direct link

Hmm... I tried donating blood at the local Red Cross. They are pretty stringent about NOT accepting from anybody who has been to India in the previous 12 months. That cuts off a large population. Any way that I could ask my friends to come in just for the bone marrow testing and be put on the registry? How does one go about it?

8 · brimful on April 5, 2005 8:14 PM · Direct link

Mytri, donating blood is a different sitch. If you go to one of the donor centers (follow Apul's link in his post), they will take your blood, and it will be much, much less than they would have taken were you donating. I also don't think they have the same stringencies re: travelling.

9 · deepa on April 5, 2005 8:44 PM · Direct link

Here are is the health questionnaire and eligibility guidelines for marrow donation.

I assumed that because I'm permanently disqualified from donating blood I couldn't donate marrow - wrong! So, something to take care of this week.

-D

P.S. - While we're on the subject, if you want to donate blood go here .

Comments closed.