Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Help Baby Stephen

When it rains.... We just found out that Van's co-worker's friend has a 16-month old baby boy in need of a bone marrow transplant. Stephen was only 6 months old in May 2007 when he was diagnosed with a disease called Hyper IGM CD40 Ligand. It is a primary immune deficiency where his immune system does not communicate properly and does not produce the Immunoglobulins he needs to fight off illnesses. A successful bone marrow transplant will cure him of the disease and give him a new healthy immune system. However, he is still looking for a perfect bone marrow donor match.

Stephen is of Caucasian descent so normally there is a $52 processing fee to get registered if you are Caucasian. To work around this, Stephen's parents are hosting a blood drive in Los Altos where you can also register to become a bone marrow donor for free during your blood donation. It's a Good Karma 2 for 1 Combo Pack. Donating blood and registering your bone marrow all in one sitting. See details below. Please help spread the word for little Stephen.

Unfortunately they are somewhat limited on the number of appointments available, so for those who are interested in becoming a part of the registry please sign up early. You can always check out the National Marrow Donor Program for upcoming bone marrow drives near your area.

Stephen's Drive
Saturday, April 5, 2008
10:00am-2:00pm

St. Simon Church
1860 Grant Road
Los Altos, 94024

To make an appointment please follow these steps:

Log onto www.bloodcenter.stanford.edu
Click on Find a Blood drive
Click on Los Altos
Click on Stephen Dorcich Blood Drive
Fill out the information requested and proceed through the site until
you click confirm


Let's keep Stephen in our thoughts and prayers and send him positive energy and love.