Just CLICK HERE. Her blog begins on March 12, 2009 with a post titled "Tami's Myelodysplasia Diagnosis." Then at the bottom of each post, click on the words "Newer Post" located just below the comments section on each page.
It's that time of year again, the second annual Roger Contreras Blood Drive and Fundraiser. Roger had the same blood cancer (MDS) that my cousin Tami had.
That's Roger and his sister who donated her stem cells to help cure his blood cancer.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Gabby's BBQ Restaurant
4659 Telephone Road & 610
Houston, TX 4659
Gulf Coast Regiional will be there to receive blood donations. Donors will receive their choice of a T-shirt. Please note: The blood bus will not be open from 1:00 - 2:30, so that they can process the first 4 hours of donations.
Some of Roger's Current Medications
This is a also a fundraiser to help cover some of Roger's ongoing medical expenses, particularly his prescription medications that are helping to keep him alive. So, at the same location, BBQ plates will be catered and served by Gabby's. The donation is $6.00 pre-paid and $8.00 day of event. It will include a BBQ Sandwich, side order & drink (w/refills)
Pastries will also be offered for a small donation.
This is True Grit. Roger was up with a walker less than 24 hours after his second hip replacement on March 1, 2011.
Please come out and enjoy the day and say hello to Roger who just recently underwent his second hip replacement surgery necessitated due to complications from the stem cell transplant he received two years ago. His Graft vs. Host Disease required a lot of steroids to control which subsequently damaged his bone marrow causing the marrow in his hips to die. It was a painful condition and the only treatment was to remove his hips and replace them with artificial hips. As if he hasn't been through enough.
Joe Lee Sanchez wiII playing what you like to hear from noon until 3:30 on the outside deck.
If you have any questions or would simply like to make a donation, please contact Roger at (832) 496-1453
Donations can be made via Paypal to txplumber@gmail.com or call him for a mailing address. (Roger has been unable to work for 3 years now and with mounting medical bills you can imagine how much stress the lack of funds is putting on him and further complicating his recovery.)
If you live in Houston please come out! If you don't live in Houston please share this info with others who do. Thanks for any help and support!
Thinking you'd like to buy some UGGS but need a little motivation to make the purchase?
If you order them now through www.ComfortShoeShop.com and enter "Gift of Life" in the message box (for a limited time) for each pair purchased, $20 will be donated to Gift of Life.
Please don't think because you're not Black, this post doesn't apply to you. It does. It applies to all of us.
In honor of Black History Month, $75,000 is what Nordstrom is willing to sponsor when you register to be a Marrow or Stem Cell Donor by using this particular link to the Be The Match Website from February 1st – 28th, 2011. The cost to process each registrant is about $100 and Nordstrom has partnered with Be The Match to sponsor up to $75,000 of testing for one month. This is in an effort to increase the number of potential African American and Black donors to "Be The Match" aka the National Marrow Donor Program. Why Register to be a Bone Marrow or Stem Cell Donor?
Because there are so many people suffering from potentially fatal blood diseases like Leukemia, MDS (like my cousin Tami) and Sickle Cell Anemia. For many, a bone marrow or adult stem cell transplant is their only chance at surviving their illness.
Because matches are made through chromosomes called leukocytes, not blood, matches are usually found when the patient and donor belong to the same ethnic group.
Sounds simple enough until you learn that only 7% of Be The Match Registry's 9 million members are of African American/Black descent. This means most Black patients have a very slim chance of finding a match in the registry yet they suffer from Sickle Cell Anemia at a higher rate than other ethnic groups.
One thing that upsets me is when people are quick to dismiss the lack of ethnic diversity in the donor registry as "not their problem." It's a short sighted way to look at a very complex issue. For starters, no ethnic group, not even Caucasians, who find a match 80% of the time, find a match every time. That means 20% of Caucasian patients will not survive because a match wasn't found. If you're an ethnic minority or you're of mixed ethnicities your odds of finding a match are far less. Your odds are 30% or less a match will be located.
So even if you're thinking you're not Black so you can't help, you would be wrong. The odds that you'll know someone (family member, friend or colleague) who is stricken with a disease like Leukemia or a life threatening form of Anemia at least once or several times in your lifetime, are higher than you probably realize so encouraging others to join the registry today could save someone you care about later.
Add to that that occasionally, matches are found between people of different ethnic groups and that will hopefully be reason enough to at least consider becoming a potential donor and/or helping to recruit others to join the registry.
I've been in the registry since 1995 and have never been a match for anyone yet. I hope I am someday. I would donate in a heartbeat. From all accounts I've read online side effects from donating marrow (from the hip bone) or PBSC (stem cells donated through aspheresis like plasma) range from none at all to mild stiffness or nausea. Little to no discomfort to possibly save a life? Yup, I'd do that.
CLICK HERE to learn about the almost painless PBSC (Peripheral Blood Stem Cell) donation method about marrow donation from the back of the hip (pelvic) bone.
Hi Everyone, this is Stacie (Tami's cousin who posts for her in this blog and keeps the Helping Tami website up to date) here. Some of you may not realize that for the past 13 years I have been self employed working in the Northern California wedding industry. Wish Upon a Wedding (a wedding wish granting non-profit that gives weddings to terminally ill patients) wanted to recognize the volunteer efforts individuals within the wedding industry make in the hopes their stories may encourage more people to get involved in volunteerism.
The Shining Star Award
The Shining Star award is their way to thank and pay tribute to the professionals who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service. The Board of Directors of the Northern California chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding selected three individuals to recognize.
Recently I attended the Blissful Wishes Ball. I, along with my colleagues Gustavo Fernández (who created Hogs for Kids and volunteers for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and Rich Amooi (who supports Second Harvest Food Bank and Humane Society of Silicon Valley) were all given recognition for our commitment to community service, volunteerism, and the advocacy work we do. We were told one of us would be awarded the Shining Star award at the gala...
And I'm very honored to be able to say I was given the award for the work I've done supporting Be The Match (The National Marrow Donor Program) through my www.HelpingTami.org and www.MarrowDrives.org websites. Thank you so much to founder Liz Guthrie and the Board of Directors for the recognition. When you do volunteer work you don't expect anything back so it means a lot that others feel what I am doing is worthy of such an honor.
Here's the thing though, to me this really is an industry award meaning I feel it recognizes most of my friends in the wedding industry including Rich and Gustavo. While some of us may have created ways to support causes or we volunteer to help existing organizations on a regular basis, almost all of my friends donate their time and services several times a year to their friends, colleagues, local schools, non-profits, foundations and engaged couples who can't always afford the wedding they deserve. There are also many unsung heroes in the special events industry who donate their time, energy and money to help others but choose not to publicize what they do so I want to share this award with all of them as well.
If you've never volunteered before I encourage you to consider finding time in your busy schedule to help others. Whatever your strengths and passions are there is most likely some non-profit, foundation or community service organization that would appreciate your help. From granting wedding wishes, to helping at a bone marrow donor drive, mentoring programs, hospitals, hospices, soup kitchens, food banks, animal shelters, literacy programs, building houses, community gardens and fundraising there are countless way you can reach out and help others who, for one reason or another, aren't able to help themselves. www.VolunteerMatch.org is a great place to start. Just go to their home page, drop in your zip code and a list of local organizations that need your help will pop up. It's that easy to find out who needs you.
If you would like to help me by supporting Be The Match please visit Helping Tami.org to learn how you can become a marrow or stem cell donor. It was through the generosity of an anonymous donor that my cousin's life was saved. You might be able to help save a life too.
There are currently 23 Black patients waiting for an unrelated stem cell donor in Canada. Many more are waiting worldwide. With the help of international searches, maybe 4 of these 23 Canadians will find a lifesaver. To give you a better idea of the need if these 23 patients were Caucasian, 15-16 would be able to find matches within the international registry as opposed to 4.
Also needed are people of mixed ethnicities meaning if you are Black and Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, Latino, Native American or any other ethnic combination your participation in the donor program is desperately needed as patients of mixed heritage have an even harder time finding a marrow or stem cell match. Their chance of finding match is even less than 4 in 23.
The range to begin effective matching is 10,000 - 20,000 potential donors. The optimal number of Black donors in Canada is 70,000 - 80,000. As you'll see below the actual statistics are currently less than 2000, a fraction of the range needed to effectively find a match for Black patients in need.
By The Numbers 2010:
New black registrants in Canada between Oct 2009 and 2010: 211
Total Black registrants in Canada in October 2010: 1644
New black registrants in Quebec between October 2009 and 2010: 3
Total Black registrants in Quebec in October 2009: 65
By The Numbers 2009:
New black registrants in Canada between Oct 2008 and 2009: 217
Total Black registrants in Canada in October 2009: 1433
New black registrants in Quebec between October 2008 and 2009: 38
Total Black registrants in Quebec in October 2009: 62
In the U.S. you can register through http://BeTheMatch.org. If you are a match for a Canadian patient your stem cells can be harvested here in the U.S. and flown to Canada, or anywhere in the world, to help save a patient's life. The truth is that with the exceptions of South Africa and the island of Martinique, most of the countries and islands that where Black ethnic groups are predominate do not have marrow registration organizations (this includes most of Africa) so it's crucial for people of Black ethnicities who want to help and live in countries that do have registries to join them and become part of the international donor pool.
My friend Tamu posted these Canadian statistics on Facebook today. Tamu lost her brother Emru to Leukemia on November 11, 2008. There is a critical need for marrow and stem cell donors but particularly donors who are Black as they are grossly under represented in the national and international marrow registries. This means people from all Black geographic regions including people from Africa and the West Indies (Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados) are needed to be potential donors to patients in need.
Long Beach, CA – Long Beach will host Be The One Run™ on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 at Shoreline Village at Marina Green Park. With a 5K, 1K Fun Run, and Tot Trot, Be The One Run is a perfect family activity, and people of all fitness levels can participate. The public is encouraged to participate by registering for the race, fundraising and/or volunteering at the event.
Every year 10,000 patients with disease like leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia need a marrow transplant but have no donor match in their family. They depend on Be The Match® to help them find a potential marrow donor and receive the transplant they need. For many, a marrow transplant is their best or only hope for a cure.
Every step participants take helps patients receive the marrow transplant they need, when they need it.
Be The One Run, Long Beach raises funds to add more members to Be The Match Registry®, increasing the chances that more patients will find a match.
Register today for the Be The One Run or support a runner or walker with a contribution. Visit BeTheOneRun.org to register, fundraise or to volunteer during the event.
I spent my childhood being taught that race doesn't matter and my entire adult life (up until 2009) believing that it doesn't. Believing that "seeing" people only as a color or race was somehow equivalent to discriminating. But when it comes to bone marrow and stem cell transplants, race does matter. More specifically there are certain HLA markers in our DNA that determine whether or not our marrow can be a match for a patient in need of a transplant to save their life. And these matching markers are usually found within ethnic groups.
Since 70% of the thousands of patients in need of a transplant won't find their matches within their immediate family, being willing to donate to a stranger in need also matters. Caucasian patients have an 85% chance of finding an anonymous match in the registry while minority ethnic groups have less than a 30% chance. So race matters. More people from every minority ethnic group and people who are of mixed ethnic groups are desperately needed to join the donor program. Because of the rigorous transplant and recovery process most transplant recipients are children and young adults. To see them lose their lives when they are just getting started is heart breaking.
Nick Glasgow was only 28 years old when he passed away.
The one year anniversary of Nick Glasgow passing away is approaching. After facing almost impossible odds of finding a match in the National Marrow Donor Program registry, because he was part Caucasian and part Japanese, Nick and his family and friends launched one of the largest and most successful donor drives I have personally witnessed. They found Nick not one but two perfect 10/10 matches. Sadly, the cancer was too strong and reoccurred, the transplant failed and Nick succumbed to the Leukemia leaving his family and friends far too soon. He was only 28 years old :(
His family and friends have continued to honor his legacy by doing their best to enlist more donors into the Be The Match registry. They are particularly interested in asking people of mixed ethnicities as people of all mixed ethnicities are severely under represented in the donor registry. If you would like to become a potential donor there are many donor drives that take place around the Bay Area each week.
This weekend you can register to become a Life Saving Stem Cell-Bone Marrow Donor at the Great Mall in Milpitas, CA
Saturday, October 23, 2010
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
447 Great Mall Drive
Milpitas CA 95035
The drive will be located at the 4b entrance at the mouth of cut-through near the food court.
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October 22 2010 Skyline College, San Bruno
October 23 2010 Great Mall, Milpitas
October 23 2010 Chinese Software Professional Association, SJ (PRIVATE)
October 24 2010 San Jose Gurdwara, San Jose
October 24 2010 Navratri Hungama
October 24 2010 Dia de los Muertos Festival, Oakland
October 26 2010 Smart Modular, Newark (PRIVATE)
October 26 2010 UC Berkeley, day 1, Berkeley
October 27 2010 UC Berkeley, day 2, Berkeley
October 27 2010 Boston Scientific Corp.,San Jose
October 28 2010 UC Berkeley, day 3, Berkeley
October 29 2010 Japanese Community Youth Council Halloween Party, SF
October 30 2010 Mexican Neighborhood Shopping Center, San Mateo
October 30 2010 Cumberland Daly City Church, Daly City
October 30 2010 Mexican Neighborhood Shopping Center, San Mateo
October 30 2010 People’s Baptist Church Health Fair, Oakland
October 31 2010 Tzu Chi winter health fair, San Jose
November 02 2010 De Anza College, day 1, Cupertino
November 03 2010 De Anza College, day 2, Cupertino
November 04 2010 De Anza College, day 3, Cupertino
November 05 2010 Milpitas Police Department
November 07 2010 Presbyterian Church, SF
November 08 2010 CCSF, day 1, SF
November 09 2010 CCSF, day 2, SF
November 12 2010 Milpitas Police Dept, Milpitas (Open to public)
November 15 2010 AT&T, San Ramon (PRIVATE)
November 15 2010 AT&T, Pleasanton (PRIVATE)
November 16 2010 Stanford University, day 1, Palo Alto
November 17 2010 Stanford University, day 2, Palo Alto
November 30 2010 Santa Clara Valley Water District, San Jose
December 05 2010 St. Elizabeth Catholic, Oakland
December 27 2010 West Coast Chinese Christian Conference
December 28 2010 West Coast Chinese Christian Conference
www.createapepper.com
Dine at Chili's on September 27 and all profits go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®.
I know where I'll be eating on Monday. Dining for a cause! This is Chili's nationwide (and in Puerto Rico) fundraiser for longtime charitable partner, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital(R) in an effort to raise $50 million in 10 years to support the St. Jude mission of finding cures and saving children.
While Michelle underwent chemo several times and received a cord blood stem cell transplant, it failed several months later and her need for an adult marrow match became absolutely critical. Tragically a match was not found in time and Michelle passed away on July 25, 2009. If you are Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai or any combination of these ethnicities PLEASE join the Registry to find out if you are the one who can save a patient in need like Michelle. She was only 27 years old.
To date Project Michelle has now located matches for 4 other patients in need allowing them to receive a potentially life saving marrow transplant. By registering over 20,000 potential donors into the National Registry Project Michelle will continue to locate matches for other patients in need for decades to come.
With a Cancer Sucks Wristband. They're great conversation starters to help spread the word about the National Marrow Donor Program
CLICK HERE to order one and to learn about our friend Roger who received a marrow transplant in March at MD Anderson in Houston, TX and is now recovering from Myelodysplasia.
This is Roger post transplant. After several agonizing days when the chemo hit him hard among other things he started losing his hair. Here he is beginning to feel better and in the process of having his head shaved.
Do You Know a Terminallly Ill Patient Who Wants to Get Married?
Wish Upon a Wedding is a new non-profit launching in 2010 whose purpose is to grant weddings and civil union ceremonies to patients facing life threatening illnesses.
