Request for assistance: bone marrow donors in the Chicago area

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Bone Marrow Donor Drive for Erik Brandenburg
Saturday, November 15, 2008
10:00am - 3:00pm
Downers Grove Public Library (main floor meeting room)
1050 Curtiss St
Downers Grove, IL

In September 2008, our friend Erik Brandenburg was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome–and told that his only chance of a cure is a bone marrow transplant. No matching donor has turned up among his family members or in the National Marrow Donor Program registry.

You could be Erik’s hero.

It’s easy to join the NMDP. You need only to complete a consent/registration form, a health questionnaire, and a simple cheek swab to determine if you could help save a life.

Due to advances in medicine, doctors can now extract stem cells from circulating blood, rather than needing to tap the bone marrow directly. This means that saving Erik’s life could be as easy as donating blood.

Tissue type characteristics are inherited, so people from similar ethnic backgrounds have the greatest chance of being a match. For Erik, this would be someone of Northern European ancestry–especially British, German, or Swiss.

If you can’t attend the drive but want to help Erik, you can help defray the cost of tissue type matching tests by making a donation of any size. You can write a check to “The Marrow Foundation,” and send it to “Friends of Erik” at 5322 Grand Avenue, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA. (Though it’s possible to submit donations online at http://www.marrow.org and be someone’s hero, the only way to support Erik’s cause is to make your donation through the drive.)

Anything you can do to help Erik will be welcome. You’ll be helping a great guy.

Thanks!

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I hate to be the bad guy here, but threads like these need to be run by a mod first, as spelled out in the Registration Agreement:

We’re not trying to stifle donations to a good cause, but we also don’t want the SDMB to be turned into Advertisement Central.

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Pazu and I’ve chatted, and the thread is now re-opened. Here’s wishing the best of luck to your friend, Pazu.

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I’m already in the registry. Since you’re *looking *for a donor, I guess I’m not a match. :frowning: I wish him all the best.

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In the registry here as well, but I wish him the best of luck!

Hopefully this encourages more people to register. The more on the list, the better chance Erik and others can find their matches.

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Erik is my friend, too. I’ve FedExed my swabs in to see if I’m a match. I’m really happy that he needs the PBSC harvesting, as opposed to the marrow tap from the hip bone. Not nearly so scary for the donors!

SkipMagic, thanks for allowing the thread to continue. Pazu and I would understand if you took it down, but we really appreciate your compassion.