A young mother in our community is asking us to help save her life. A friend of mine has been diagnosed with Leukemia, her name is Phyllis, and she is a young mom like many of us. Phyllis needs a steam-cell-transplant in order to survive. No one in her family has been a match, that is why she needs us. Without a transplant her chances of survival are only 20%. It is easy and free to be tested to see if you could be a match for Phylis. All it takes is a simple cheek swab, then if you are a match you will under go a procedure similar to donating blood where stem cells are filtered out and reserved and all other blood components are returned to the donor. If you are interested in helping my friend there are several things you can do.......
1. Come to the "Be A Match" Registry Event Saturday, September 29th from 10:00-4:00PM at the LDS Church located at 3530 West Magee Road Tucson, AZ 85741 and do your cheek swab, the whole process will take about 12 minutes. Be in and out quickly! For more information, call 271-8676.
2. If you can't make the event go to http://marrow.org/Join/Join_the_Registry.aspx and request your free testing kit that will be delivered to your home at no cost to you.
3.Tell your family and friends! You do not have to live in Tucson to participate, you can donate wherever you live. The more people we get to join, the better chances we have of finding a match for Phyllis! So post this on your Facebook and blogs, talk to your neighbors and friends. Lets get the word out!
If you would like to learn more about Phyllis' battle you can see a news report here http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/170771426.html . You can also go to marrow.org to get answers to all of your questions about the screening process.
Together we can make a difference, and maybe give someone a second chance at life along the way!
