Bone marrow donation/ registration

Dear VSNA members,
   Recently we came to know that one of our member is in need of bone marrow and we earnestly request you to register and help a fellow member.   Few of us are already member of bone marrow donor society for many years and we urge to you register as well.  For more details see below.
Sharanu,
Shiva Maganahalli

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Plea from past President of VSNA, North California and relative of Nanjundeshwar Shetty.

Dear Friends,

  My Brother-in-law Nanjundeshwar (Nanjun) Shetty has been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). In MDS, the cells in the bone marrow have problem making blood cells, many of the blood cells that are formed by the bone marrow cells are defective. The Doctors at Duke Hospital (Durham, North Carolina) have determined that a Bone Marrow Transplant  is essential to cure his MDS.

A person needing a bone marrow transplant (recipient) needs to receive marrow from someone whose tissue type is close to his/her own type. Since tissue types are inherited, similar to hair or eye color, it is more likely that the recipient will find a suitable donor in a brother or sister( tests are underway to match his sisters' tissue type ). This, however, happens only 25 to 30 percent of the time. If a family member does not match the recipient, the Registry database is searched for an unrelated individual whose tissue type is a close match. It is more likely that a donor who comes from the same racial or ethnic group as the recipient will have the same tissue traits. Ethnic Minorities have a 30-40% chance of finding a match from the existing NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program) registry. There is critical shortage of South Asian Donors for Marrow / Stem Cell Transplant. South Asians make up less than 2% of the National Registry (133,000 out of 7.4 million). One Simple Reason for South Asians to act now.

The registration process is free and very simple. Ravi and I registered, we just had to give our cheek swabs and fill out a form.
In order to be a donor, you must:
~ Be the ages of 18-60
~ Have no serious, ongoing lower back problems
~ Be in good general health.

~ You will join a national registry of potential donors for ANY patient in need

We earnestly request you all to take a few moments and register today. Time is of the essence since it takes a month to get on to the donor list after you register. 

Here are a few web sites for more information:
http://www.aadp.org/pages/main.php?pageid=16&pagecategory=5
http://www.marrow.org/

Please forward to your friends and family and urge them to register.

The best doctors in the world cannot help without a matching donor. Committed Donors can save lives.

Sincerely,
Jayashree and Ravi Handyal.

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Request from North Carolina President - Yogeesha Vinayaka

Sharanu,
I am writing this email requesting you all for big favor. 

Our NC-Chapter member Nanjundeshwar Shetty has been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). It s a blood disorder. Individuals who have MDS have bone marrow that don't function normally and as a result they do not have enough normal blood cells for the normal functioning of the body. The doctors at Duke Hospital have determined that a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) is essential to cure MDS.

Getting a right bone marrow match likely depends on the race/ethnicity.  Due to minority population of Indians/South Asians, the donor registry pool is small. 

I am calling for your help on behalf of Shetty family and need everybody’s help in finding a match.

As it takes about 8 to 12 weeks for somebody to get on to the donor registry, I sincerely urge your immediate effort in spreading the news.

Our NC chapter’s Ex-President Vish Tharuve has put together a very informative website in order to help this effort. Please visit http://sites.google.com/site/nanjundshetty/ for more details.

The registration process is very simple as described on the registry websites, http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html   or register at one of many donor drives.  You can go on the website to find out where the upcoming drives near you http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Events/index.html

For more information please visit: http://www.marrow.org/index.html
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Yogee Vinayaka
President
VSNA NC-Chapter.