For people who only know Emru through this blog, he and I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Today, another Quebec native, Diane Hébert, passed away. She was the first recipient in the province of both a heart and lung transplant. I remember in my early teens seeing her face on the television and in the papers. She made news with her story, and went on lead a normal life, write an autobiography, Second Chance, set up a foundation promoting organ and tissue donation that also supports patients awaiting donation (including those awaiting bone marrow), and live for 23 more years, leaving this world at 51.

I panicked last month when I noticed my organ donor sticker on the back of my Medicare card had worn down so it was hardly readable. My new sticker arrived in the mail last week with my new card, to my relief.

Her efforts made organ donation acceptable in Canada, and very much so in Quebec, which has the highest number of organ donors per capita. People became aware that lives could be changed for the better with their gift.

While bone marrow and stem cell donations are only provided by living donors and one must consent to be added to a different registry, her efforts had an impact on how people feel about helping one another in this manner and made them realize how meaningful it is to give someone a better chance of survival even in the direst of circumstances.

In the title, I include Diane Hébert's transplantation year as her "birth date." It marks the beginning of her second chance at life.

Labels: Canada, organ and tissue donation, Quebec

Emru and I get a lot of questions via email, phone, Facebook, and in person. I will be present on Saturday June 28 and Sunday June 29 to give a brief talk and take part in a question and answer period. This is a great chance to get a lot of information in a very short time and get your concerns addressed.

Saturday June 28
12:00pm -2:00 pm
3:00 pm-5:00 pm

Sunday June 29
3:00 pm-5:00 pm

Concordia University
De Seve Cinema
1400 de Maisonneuve West
Montreal, Quebec
(near Guy-Concordia metro)

Topics to be addressed:

- What are bone marrow, stem cells, and why would someone need a donation
- Myths surrounding bone marrow donation, and the actual donation process
- Why most people requiring a bone marrow transplant will require an unrelated donor
- How to register in Quebec and other regions
- How matching works, why so many people are needed and why ethnic background is a factor
- Shortages in certain donor pools and other issues

You can also add the event on Facebook and send it to your friends.

Labels: Canada, minority donors, Montreal

On June 19, from 2 to 8 p.m. there will be a bone marrow drive in Montreal at the YWHA on Westbury. It is sponsored by Gift of Life to aid two men in the local Jewish community.

Donations are welcome, as the family must pay out of pocket since this is being done by a US registry. You have the privilege of getting swabbed for free, but please try to pay what you can, even if it is only a few dollars, because in the end, someone is paying for it.

Please note that this drive is not sponsored by Hema Quebec, who does not run bone marrow drives. Your name will go onto the National Marrow Donor Program database in the US, but if you are ever found to be a match, they will contact the appropriate registry.

No matter what registry you are on, please remember to keep your address information up to date.

To register any time in Quebec, go to Hema Quebec's website and download their consent form, or call (514) 832-5000 ext 279 and ask for a consent form to be sent directly to you. Read it, fill it in and send it back. You will be contacted to make an appointment at your convenience, where you will provide two vials of blood for typing.

Labels: bone marrow drives, Canada, Gift of Life, Montreal

Carolyn Tam and other Chinese patients require new Chinese registrants to add their numbers to the worldwide registry. There are not enough Asian and Pacific Islander registrants.

Carolyn lives in Toronto, Canada, and she is the same position as many - no matches in the registry. Yet. It's up to people to decide that they are going to register or at least continue to spread the word about her.

Bone marrow drives are run by neither the OneMatch Registry nor the Hema-Quebec Stem Cell Registry in Canada. A special arrangement has been made with the Elizabeth Lue Bone Marrow Foundation for the Gift of Life registry, based in the US, to run bone marrow drives north of the border for Carolyn, which will benefit all present and future patients.

June 14: Vancouver

Vancouver Chinatown
S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
28 West Pender Street

Richmond
Buddha's Light International Association
#6680- 8181 Cambie Road

Burnaby
CCM Canada
2nd floor 4533 Kingsborough Street
(Crystal Mall)

June 15: Toronto

Downtown Toronto
UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT HOUSE
10am - 4pm
23 Grange Road

Scarborough
SCARBOROUGH FINCH YEE HONG CENTRE
10am - 4pm
60 Scottfield Drive

Richmond Hill
RICHMOND HILL CHINESE COMMUNITY CHURCH
1pm - 4pm
9670 Bayview Avenue

Mississauga
MISSISSAUGA YEE HONG CENTRE
10am - 4pm
5510 Mavis Road

Personally, I would love to run more entries with the label "bone marrow drives" and "Canada" in the same sentence. Supporting this drive, regardless of background can send a clear message to Canadian registries that bone marrow drives need to be rethought and reinstated.

Labels: bone marrow drives, Canada, Gift of Life, minority donors

A CTV.ca article talks about how easy it is to get on the bone marrow registry via cheek swabs in Canada (except Quebec, where blood samples are used). Just order the kit and do it at home:

With the kit, the DNA is collected by swabbing the inside of your cheek. Four samples are taken from four different areas. The swabs are then put back into the package, and sent to Canadian Blood Services' lab.

It should be mentioned that this is the same system that's used in the United States. Hit up our registries page to order your kit today.

Labels: Canada, US

From the Calgary Herald:

The permanent clinic in the Beltline needs donors to come in on Easter Monday, either from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can call 1-888-2-DONATE to get more information or visit www.blood.ca.

Labels: bone marrow drives, Canada