I am participating in the upcoming fundraiser for the Lymphoma Leukemia Society at the McKellar Residence: 148 Kaimoani Way, Kailua, Hawaii, 96734, this weekend, Sunday October 29, 2017 from 2 – 5 pm. I will personally be late since I am also taking a workshop but I do plan to come from 4 – 5. There will be art for sale with a minimum of 50% of all proceeds going to the Leukemia Society. Many accomplished artists are donating work to the event, and Greg and Junko (an award-winning steel drum band) will play live music for us at this lovely beachside home! Please see this flyer for more information:
I would also urge anyone who feels altruistic to get signed up as a possible marrow donor. Someone amazing did this for my uncle. I was thinking of testing for compatibility when a kind stranger matched him before I could even find out how to sign up. Later, I signed up in the hopes to pay it forward someday. Maybe I will be the stranger with the right marrow to help make extra years possible for someone as wonderful as my uncle. He was seriously ill, but was fortunate to recover well after the bone marrow transplant. He has been granted precious years of life to nuture his grandkids and spend time with friends and family.
Please click here to learn the basics of what it means to sign up in the database and what it would require to be a donor:
If you are between the ages of 18 and 44, you are the right age to be the match. With a simple cheek swab, you can be in the database, and if a match comes up, you can make the decision of whether you are able to donate marrow. Please visit this link to learn how to take the first step to being in the database (a DNA swab to determine compatibility with future patients):
https://join.bethematch.org/sidenavjoin
With Hawaii, there are many unique racial combinations, and so it’s important especially here in Hawaii to register since the need for marrow often follows racial/hereditary lines. and it is harder for multiracial patients to be able to match. Someone on the island with wonderful diverse heritage could be the key to help a Filipino/Hawaiian/Japanese/Native American/Irish mixed ancestry patient that would otherwise be unable to find a match.