my drummer and me both lost our wives from complications do to Leukemia (AML)last year.
this saturday is our second annual Bone Marrow Donor Awareness drive. we have at least seven bands. it's $10 Admission but free if you sign up to be a marrow donor.
a Leukemia society volunteer has a booth set up to take your info and swabs your mouth with a Q-tip to determine if you could be a potential donor. who knows? perhaps save or extend someones life.
my wifes life was extended do to a generous 21 year old male somewhere on this planet.
anyway, i humbly ask anyone interested to please contact their local Leukemia or Cancer Awareness center to find out how one goes about being a bone marrow donor. it will only cost you a bit of time out of your day. you have the potential to give someone a lot of days, or perhaps years, and it won't cost you anything and it is sooo simple and painless to register.
Thank you so much!
have a good day, Mark Prados
MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name for info-
Last Edited by on Jul 17, 2012 6:20 PM
Mark, I am so sorry to hear how this horrible disease has touched you personally. I was wondering where this benefit is located. I am in Seattle, so, assuming it is not in this area, is there anyway to make a donation to your local chapter of the Leukemia Society. Rich Greenberg
Marrow donors are real heros. The process involved with marrow donation is far more personal than that of blood/plasma donation. When you donate marrow, you Know that you are actually helping someone. Plus, it is not the excruciating pain that it once was. General or local anesthesia takes care of all that now.
I urge those who are capable to try to donate. Not just because of this awareness drive but, because of the chance of Actually changing someone's life for the better in the ultimate way.
you can actually affect change in a large way. this is not a request for money. when you donate money you can't be certain where it actually goes. if you are a registered marrow donor you don't donate your marrow unless requested because your DNA is a close match to a patient.
the thrust of the drive is for potential Marrow donors. thanks all!
have a good day, mark ---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
I've been on the donor list for about 4 or 5 years now. I should have signed up a long time before that really.
It's not a big deal to get on the list. I was sent a do it yourself kit in the mail. I swabbed my mouth and sent my sample back and now they keep my info on file and we stay in touch and updated by e mail in case my address or phone number changes. Easy.
It could be that someday I might need plasma or bone marrow, or maybe someone else here on this forum will have a little girl who needs a lifesaving donation. I hope that one of you guys would be willing to help us out. It's like the old WW II poster says - "We are all in this together".
Mark, i am going to look at a bone marrow drive here. sorry for your loss sir, but you have planted a seed here. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
any oncology dept. in any hospital can direct you to a Bone Marrow Registry.
it is difficult to find DNA matches for people without siblings or- like here in Hawaii, people of mixed racial ancestry like my late wife...or myself, for that matter.
tonight we will sign up a lot of people. you CAN affect change for the good of others with minimal effort.
have a good day, mark ---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
I would also like to second Mark's call for donorship.
My mother just finished her second round of stem-cell replacement therapy and chemo at Barnes in St. Louis after her multiple myeloma was diagnosed as active again this past spring despite nearly six years of remission.
Multiple myeloma is a type of bone marrow cancer, similar in form to leukemia, and while these days it can be treated with the patient's own healthy marrow cells, not every patient is lucky enough to have those healthy cells to regrow their marrow. And when that's the case, a compatible donor is needed.
My mother is a strong woman, and is doing well so far. But I'm always ready to donate if needed. Please remember that you can do the same thing and give someone a second chance at life, regardless of whether that someone is a person you know and love, or a perfect stranger. ---------- Hawkeye Kane
