Seeking help for stricken son and others with deadly diseases, family enlists aid of community.

BENZONIA, MI:  People who are willing to roll up their sleeves and give blood, register to be prospective marrow donors, or even write a check can show their support for a local young man with a life-threatening disease by stopping by the Sail Inn Restaurant, 1579 Michigan Avenue, Benzonia between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 8, 2005, during the special Blood/Marrow Donor Registry Drive that will be hosted by the Wolf family and Michigan Community Blood Centers.

People who would like to help but are unable to attend in person are welcome to send a check payable to National Marrow Donor Program, care of Michigan Community Blood Centers, 2575 Aero Park Drive, Traverse City, MI 49686.

Just 23 years old, Ryan needs a marrow transplant. The operation may represent his best hope of surviving leukemia. But none of Ryan’s relatives are a match for his bone marrow, so an unrelated donor is needed, as well as funding to pay for the tissue-type testing that is involved in matching marrow donors with people like Ryan, who need transplants. Ryan has been hospitalized at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, but is hoping to be released in order to be at the January 8 drive with his parents.

“Each year, about 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with leukemia, aplastic anemia, or any one of 60 other life-threatening disease that potentially could be cured with marrow transplants,” says Sharon Childs, Donor Services director for Michigan Community Blood Centers in this area. “Of these 30,000 terribly sick people, fewer than 1,000 will actually have a family member whose tissue-type matches closely enough to donate marrow – so then, as in Ryan’s case, a match must be found in an unrelated person.”

Michigan Community Blood Centers and the National Marrow Program, both nonprofit organizations, are not able to cover all of the expenses associated with marrow donor registry. Tissue-type testing, a medically necessary prerequisite, is expensive – approximately $100 for just one marrow donor’s blood sample. “That’s why we’re asking for people to show their support with financial contributions to the National Marrow Donor Program, as well as the gift of life,” Childs says. “As for blood donations, people may not realize that blood transfusions are very often included in the treatment many cancer patients receive. So if someone isn’t able to register to become a marrow donor, or can’t make a financial contribution, they can show support for Ryan and his family – and for other people in our community who need the gift of life – by giving blood.”

Any healthy person 17 or older who weighs 110 pounds or more may be eligible to give blood every 56 days. To register as a marrow donor, people must be between ages 18 and 60, and in good health. “We advise anyone planning to give blood, or have a blood sample drawn for marrow testing, to eat a nutritious meal two to four hours ahead of time,” Childs says.  “They also need to bring a picture I.D., such as a drivers’ license, or two forms of non-photo I.D.”

Michigan Community Blood Centers provides 100 percent of the regular blood supply to all hospitals in this area, including all Munson Health Systems facilities.  Statewide, Michigan Community Blood Centers supplies blood for hospitals in three major regions with a combined total population of approximately 1.5 million. Through links with the National Marrow Donor Program, Michigan Community Blood Centers also recruits prospective marrow donors and provides supportive services for transplant patients and their families. Michigan Community Blood Centers also belongs to America’s Blood Centers, a nationwide network of community blood banks that together collect 50 percent of the U.S. blood supply, as well as 25% of the Canadian blood supply, each year.

© Michigan Community Blood Centers