Pritchard Windsurfing

 Hi everyone,

I'm sending this out to help a windsurfing friend of mine that needs to get a message out that might save her sister Viet's life.  My friend is Linh Lam who helped me out with my broken legs and I've gotten to know her through the windsurfing clinics I teach in Baja.  Linh herself is one of those people you meet that amaze you with her positive energy, kindness and determination.  When you learn about Linh's and Viet's life story- defecting from Viet Nam, living in refugee camps and eventually becoming doctors in the US- you can get an idea of how amazing both Linh and Viet are. 

Tragically, Viet has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma and desperately needs a marrow donor match. Viet has dedicated her life to helping so many people through her work in internal medicine and now she needs to ask for help.  Matching is done through the National Marrow Donor Program.  The registry process is free, private and painless, online and a swab kit can be mailed to you.

You can read more information about Viet and how to register in the email I received below.  Thanks for taking the time to help spread the awareness about the registry and hopefully we'll find a match for Viet as soon as possible.

“As you might remember, my younger sister had relapsed lymphoma in July 2009.  Her only chance to live is to have a bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell transplant.  However, there is no match available.  She's holding on as long as she could.

As we learn about this disease and from my experiences of taking care of countless children inflicted with leukemia and lymphoma, it is a curable disease.  For many of these patients, their only treatment option is a bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell transplant.  As many as 70% of these patients do not have a donor in their family.

Some basic statistics... Everyday, over six thousand patients search the National Marrow Registry for a match.  The probability of a match in unrelated people is 1 in a million.  As a result, many of these patients do not survive.  At times, they eventually find a match but their health significantly deteriorate or the disease has significantly spread that they could no longer tolerate a transplant.  Those of Asian, South Asian, Hispanic, African American, mixed ethnicity, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent have a hard time finding a match due to lack of registry.

My sister is also a doctor.  We've talked extensively about her condition and her life.  Her (and my) wish is to keep looking for a donor for her, but as importantly, to increase awareness of this tremendous need and find potential donors for so many others.

The process of registering in the National Marrow Registry and donation process is free of charge, confidential, and relatively painless.  There is literally no harm to the donors.  

Those patients who receive a transplant at an appropriate time can live a normal life.  I have met and taken care a lot of them. 

Please help us spread the words.

Here's the webpage we set up for my sister.  You can read her story/statement there.”

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/vietlam/mystory

For detailed information about the National Marrow Registry, please visit

http://join.bethematch.org 

ONLINE MARROW REGISTRY INFORMATION FOR VIET :

Anyone needing information about becoming a marrow donor is welcome to contact me. I am working with Viet and Linh on planning marrow drives and maintaining her online marrow drive. 
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 
Cell/BB 510-301-9512

Online registry Website: 
http://join.bethematch.org/viet2010

1. Fill out the online consent
2. a swab kit will be mailed to you with instructions
3. Mail the kit back to Be The Match
4. We will mail you a confirmation that you are now part of the registry.



Thank you, Magda Silva at BE THE MATCH


Magda Silva
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Magda Silva
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