Bone Marrow Donor Testing for Jodie Gee

Jodie was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia on November 10th. Her bone marrow is not making any of the cells she needs for her blood. As a result, she is very susceptible to infections, she can bleed easily and she feels tired. The recommended treatment for a full recovery is a bone marrow transplant. The best chance of a match comes from a donor with a similar ethnic background (Jodie is Taiwanese), but a donor of different ethnicity could still be a match too, just less likely.

Many of you have asked about getting tested to see if you are a match for Jodie. Below is some important information for you to consider if you are interested in getting tested. Getting tested is easy - it only involves swabbing the inside of your cheek with a cotton swab.

TESTING OPTIONS:

Option 1. Join the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) national registry. By joining the national registry, you become a potential donor for Jodie as well as others in need of a bone marrow transplant. Becoming a donor is easy, find an affiliated donation center in your area, fill out a registration form and then get a cheek swab, you will then be added to the national registry.
Jodie's doctors at MD Anderson monitor the registry regularly for potential donors.

For more info on the NMDP and local donor centers, visit www.marrow.org/ or call 1-800-MARROW-2.

Other important information:
• FAQs about joining the registry
• Medical Guidelines for Joining
• Myths & Facts about Bone Marrow Donation

Donor centers:
Houston
Dallas
Austin

Option 2. If you would like to be tested for Jodie ONLY, meaning you do not want to be a potential donor for anyone else, then you can get privately tested. You will need to request a test kit from Kashi Clinical Laboratories (KCL) at www.bonemarrowtest.com

-Test kit fee, $165
-Kit Includes: Two cheek swabs, a consent form to KCL and label for return of the sample to KCL.
-Please complete the consent form with the information below to direct a copy of the results to our MD Anderson search coordinator.

Michele Alvarez
Lead Unrelated Transplant Coordinator
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Blvd. Rm R8.1602
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: 713-745-3216
Fax: 713-563-8037

If you have additional questions, please contact JoAnn Wu, Betsy Wong, Karen Chin or Connie Chuan.

In His Care,
Alex, Jodie, Tyler and Elizabeth