RAS - The International Serbian Organization not-for-profit non-governmental organization
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Jelena is from Trebinje, Herzegovina, and currently lives in North Carolina. She needs a Bone Marrow transplant from someone in her ethnic community within the next few weeks in order to survive this terrible disease. RAS, together with Serbian Sisters Circle and St. Luke Serbian Church in Washington DC area organized the Leukemia drive.
Cheek swabs were taken from about 70 people who came to support and help Jelena and others. All of the registered were entered into a National Registry called “Be The Match Foundation”.
Entering this Foundation Registry is very important, and RAS would encourage everyone to do so. “Be The Match Foundation” is connected with the “Institute for Blood Transfusion of Serbia” and by registering, we can all help many of our Serbian people in Serbia and wherever they may live. So far, there was only about 1,000 people registered in Serbia, and there are many cases of Leukemia and other deadly cancers, especially after the bombing and exposure to depleted uranium.
Fifteen other cities and Serbian communities in the USA also organized their drives.
If you have not registered, we are urging you to do so, for Jelena, and for any of our countryman, women, or children in need.
Giiving of the sample starts by swabbing the inside of the cheek in four places with a Q-Tip. It is painless, fast, and free. Needles are NOT used.
If you are found to be a match, 75 to 80 percent of donations are taken through regular blood transfusions where the blood platelets are then extracted. This procedure has been in affect since 1996 with no side effects. 20 to 25 percent of donations are taken through the tradition bone marrow extraction where local anesthesia is used.
These are the guidelines for potential donors between the ages of 18 to 60.
http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html
If you have medical questions, please contact our friend, Dr. Ivan Aksentijevich at Aksentijevich@verizon.net
If you don't live in America, please look up your country here.
http://www.bmdw.org/index.php?id=addresses_members&no_cache=1
Special thanks go to Natalija Djurickovic who started the Drive and Anamarija Stepanovic who helped tremendously in gathering many young people to take part in this important event.