Marrow Donor Drives May 17-18, Cleveland, OH

If you live near Cleveland or in Beechwood, Ohio, are of Eastern European descent and are not in the National Marrow Registry please consider attending this drive to help Eve. To say life is unfair is an understatement when we're talking about sick children.

"Gift of Life" will be hosting a donor recruitment drive at:
Beachwood Mandel JCC
26001 S. Woodland Rd
Beachwood, Ohio

Sunday, May 17 from 9am – 3pm
Monday, May 18 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm.

This little girl needs your help. And she isn't the only child in need. If you register you could save Eve or any number of children with Leukemia waiting for a marrow match.

If you don't live in Cleveland but know someone who does please email them the link to this blog post and ask them to tell everyone they know. Please help us spread the word about these drives.

Or you can help by joining the registry by mail. You can order an online, mail-in test kit. It consists of a short registration form and 4 cotton swabs. That's it. While there is a federal grant that covers the full $52 tissue typing fee for ethnic minorities, for those of Caucasian descent the fee is reduced to $25. Simply go to the donor page on the Be The Match website and use this Promo Code: AADPTami2009 when prompted to receive the $27 discount. To learn more about why there is a charge for Caucasians and not all other ethnicities please visit the Ethnicity Page on Tami's website.

For more details about Eve and her marrow drives in Ohio please CLICK HERE

Posted by Stacie (Tami's cousin)

Tami's Potential Donor: Still Some Big Hurdles to Clear

There are two posts today. Please be sure to read the one below this one. Tami was readmitted back to the hospital this afternoon.

So here's what I was able to learn today about Tami's potential donor's status and the transplant process. I was able to contact the cancer hospital's donor search department to learn what will happen next. As it stands a 10 of 10 match has been located. Still needed before Tami can receive her transplant are the following items:

1. Tami will receive a pre-transplant physical evaluation to make sure her body is strong enough to undergo the transplant procedure.

2. The Transplant will be scheduled. This means clearing availability of Tami's transplant hospital and team, the availability of the donor to go through their screening and pre-donation treatment process and the donor's hospital having the time in their schedule to harvest the stem cells to send to Seattle by plane.

3. The potential donor begins their physical eligibility screening process.

This is a biggie. Lots of prayers needed here that her potential donor will pass and be deemed both eligible and will be willing to donate to her.

A donor can change their mind at any time during the entire process so prayers are needed that Tami's donor will not waver in their desire to help a stranger in need.

Statistically 50% of matches do not proceed to donation due to a potential donor declining by choice to not go through with the donation or a donor who is willing t0 donate is told they are not physically eligible to do so.

4. A second blood draw will be done to confirm that the donor is indeed compatible. This will be a repeat process of the confirmatory testing that has already been done once to ensure their tissue type compatibility.

5. If all of these actions are cleared then the patient will begin their pre-donation treatment to receive the medicine to help his marrow over produce stem cells, which takes 5 days, and then a multi-day harvesting process where blood is taken each day, the stem cells are harvested and the donor receives the rest of their own blood back.

6. Tami will need to undergo a preparative process that includes rounds of chemotherapy (and possibly radiation) to kill her own bone marrow so that it will not try to reject her donor's marrow once the new stem cells have been administered into her blood stream and begin to engraft and take over for her old marrow in producing new red and white blood cells and platelets.

The preparative process of chemo and radiation may take from 4 to 10 days depending on many factors like the patient's age, the progression of their disease and any other treatments they may have received previously.

You can learn more about this process on the Be The Match website.

In total this process can take approximately 5 weeks to complete.

Thanks for checking in here. Tami really appreciates it. To be honest she's been kind of surprised and overwhelmed that so many people are out there rooting for her. But she really appreciates all of your support, prayers, good wishes and positive vibes, as does our entire family.

Posted by Stacie (Tami's cousin)

How Tami is Feeling - Back in the Hospital :(

Thank you everyone for your messages, thoughts and prayers for Tami and her potential marrow donor.

Unfortunately Tami has had a setback today and was taken back to the ER this morning. She is there now and they are conducting tests. I'll be posting an update here in this post as soon as I have one :(

Edited to Add at 3:36 PM: Just talked to my mom who informed me that Tami was readmitted to the hospital. The issues that brought her to the ER were not major. Her red blood cell count had dropped and she is now waiting to receive a transfusion. This almost always makes her feel better right away as her blood is then able to oxygenate her body more efficiently. 

Also Tami was dehydrated. Which is also easy enough to remedy. So all in all her return to the hospital is not due to a major setback.

Not sure how long she will be there now but we'll keep you updated.

Posted by Stacie (Tami's cousin)

Cautiously Optimistic: A Perfect 10 Marker Marrow Match Has Been Found!

Say a prayer and send positive vibes. We'll take whatever you're willing to give!

On the one hand we want to throw caution to the wind and simply celebrate that Tami has now overcome one of the hardest obstacles she faces: Finding that elusive 10 marker match. At this point all we know is that an anonymous donor was indeed a perfect tissue type match for Tami.

What we don't know is has this person already been health screened to determine if they are physically eligible to donate? There are many reasons why they may not be allowed to donate no matter how willing they are. Once we have confirmed this has been done it's pretty safe to say that Tami has a donor.

There is also a 50% chance that a donor will say no and decline donating but from what I've learned this usually happens when they are first notified they are a match, or after they've been briefed on the donor process in greater detail. Please say a prayer tonight that Tami's potential donor has already been briefed and still wants to go ahead with the donation.

If this is the case she could receive her transplant by then end of the month. 

Sadly some patients will have 2 or 3 or 4 potential donors either decline to give or turn out to be ineligible to donate. I can't even imagine the heartache this causes. To raise your hopes only to have things not work out. 

Thank you all for your support so far, and know that if Tami's potential donor backs out for any reason we'll still be here prepared to keep searching until we find one for her. There was a second possible match for her but at this time this person has not yet been confirmed as being a close enough tissue type to actually be a donor for her.

Tami is feeling very hopeful and appreciative of all of the support everyone has given to her. In my opinion she has every reason to feel hopeful as she has already defied the odds by finding a match so quickly. This isn't how things typically go for minority patients. Usually they wait the longest of all patients to find a useable match, let alone a perfect one.

I'll keep you posted the moment I hear back, hopefully tomorrow, whether or not not only the match but the donor's health and willingness to donate have also been confirmed.

Posted by Stacie (Tami's cousin)

Learn more about her on Tami's Website.

Being a Potential Marrow Donor

Hi Everyone,

This is Wendy, one of Tami's 2 official bloggers.

As you may have read in a previous blog post, I've been a member of the marrow registry for many years now. I'm an avid viewer of the soap opera Days of Our Lives and they had a story line about a girl that was in need of a marrow donation. She was suffering from Leukemia. At the end of each episode an announcement was made about the need for marrow donors. I also knew someone personally that had donated marrow for a stranger so I decided to become a member of the registry myself. I know it's an odd way of becoming a member but that's how it went. :)

I've been called three times so far as a possible donor. I have friends that have been on the registry longer than I have and have never been called. I guess I've just been lucky to be such a close match to three patients in need of marrow. I've been so excited every time I was called.

My first experience, I was called but I was not the closest possible match. I admit I was disappointed but I was also happy that there were other donors more closely matched to the patient than I was.

The second time, I came very close to donating stem cells. I was the best match for the patient and things started moving very rapidly. The patient was in dire need of a transplant. It is such an amazing and odd feeling to know that you match another person perfectly as if you were siblings yet you are total strangers. I went through all the testing and was set to receive the injections that would help my body produce extra stem cells . I got a call before receiving my first injection that the patient had come out of remission and could not receive the donation. I was told I would be called in the future if the patient needed me but I haven't heard anything and it has been four years now. I think about the patient a lot and wonder what happened.

I recently matched a third patient. I was really hoping the third time was the charm. I received a letter in the mail that said I wasn't the best match for the patient. However, I'm still a possible donor for the patient. If the perfect match is unable or unwilling to donate, I will be called. I sincerely hope that the patient receives their donation from the best match but I'm here and willing to donate if they need me.

I've been lucky to be called upon three times. One of these days I will actually be able to donate. I know it!!

Posted by Wendy. Learn more about her in this blog post.

3 Massachusetts Bone Marrow Donor Drives are Today!

GIft of Life is a Jewish Marrow Donor Program that has taken a personal interest in helping Tami to find her marrow match thanks to a volunteer who works there named Louise.

The Gift of Life Multi-Ethnic Donor Drives are Today!

Please tell everyone you know in MA. and ask them to tell everyone they know. You can make a difference. Call, email, text, Twitter... We can't do it without your help.

Lexington • Westborough • Brookline Massachusetts

For your convenience 3 donor drive locations are all hosted TODAY May 3, 2009.

Temple Isaiah
55 Lincoln Street
Lexington, MA 02421
9:00am - 3:00pm | 617-947-9900

Congregation B'nai Shalom
117 East Main Street
Westborough, MA 01581
8:30am - 1:30pm | 506-366-0662

Young Israel of Brookline
YIB Health Care Conference
62 Green street
Brookline, MA 02446
9:00am - 12:00pm | 617-283-8644

Posted by Stacie (Tami's cousin)

Learn more about her on Tami's Website.

How Tami is Feeling

Tami had a really good day today. She is doing well at home. We are so relieved. It must be great to sleep in your own bed and see your family and children and pets.

Tami was required to return to the hospital today to have her blood checked and luckily everything was ok so she was able to return home.  She will return to the hospital tomorrow for a recheck.  

Posted by Wendy.
Learn more about her in this blog post.

Gotta Love Twitter

This morning I was "followed" by Sonya Lee Weddings and Events on Twitter.

Immediately I noticed that she is based out of Massachusetts. Serendipitous because the 3 multi-ethnic "Gift of Life" Bone Marrow Donor Drives are tomorrow and I'd been trying to figure out how to reach out to more people there. 

I asked Sonya if she would help us spread the word and she said yes in a BIG way. Not only is she going to get registered she's "tweeted" it to all of her followers on Twitter. 

Thanks so much Sonya! 

We really appreciate all of the help we can get :)

Sonya Lee Weddings and Events

Posted by Stacie (Tami's cousin)

Learn more about her on Tami's Website.

How Tami is Feeling

Big news today!! The doctors have decided to let Tami return home for a little while. However, she will be required to return to the hospital everyday for monitoring, check ups, and blood work. The doctors will also determine on a daily basis if a blood transfusion or a platelet transfusion is needed. These transfusion, of course, would be given to Tami in the hospital.

We are concerned that being home from the hospital can be dangerous incase Tami were to catch a cold or get an infection but the doctors are ok with her going home. Returning home will be good for her mood. Her children will also be so relieved to have their mom home!! And, Tami will be able to spend more time with them.

She does tire easily so she has to be careful to not over do it once she's home.

Northern California Marrow Donor Drives this Weekend

If you've been wanting to join the National Marrow Donor Program Registry but hadn't had time to order a mail-in kit or attend a live drive maybe one of this weekends drives will be in your area:

Saturday, May 2, 2009
Sing Tao, Redwood City
10am-4pm

Lion Supermarket, Milpitas
12pm-4pm

Stanford Concert, Stanford
6:30 pm-10:30 pm

Cinco de Mayo, SF
11am-4pm

La Gran Tardeada, Davis
12pm-5pm

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Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sing Tao, Redwood City
10am-4pm

Lambda Phi Epsilon Picnic, Sunnyvale
1-3 pm

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For more details about any of these donor drives please visit the Upcoming Drives page on the AADP.org website.

Thanks Everyone and have a great weekend!