CANCER CORNER

A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BECOMING A BONE MARROW/STEM CELL DONOR…….

• Donors must be between 18 and 50 years old.
• Donors must be in general good health.
• With no history of hepatitis or sexually trans mitted diseases.
• Donors should weigh over 50 kg.
• Preferably, but not necessarily be a blood donor.
• Donors must be informed.
• Donors must be committed to help anyone.

Joining the registry is simple: You need to call the Sunflower Fund so that we can make sure that you meet the criteria. All we need is about two teaspoons of blood. Your blood sample is then analyzed and put on a national database. The odds of being a match are about 1:100 000 which is why we need as many donors as possible.

This is very costly. Funds are limited and we are asking those who can afford it to make a donation towards this cost. The Sunflower Fund does not receive any government funding towards tissue-typing and depends solely on donations by the public.

The donation procedure is minor with little discomfort.

This stage is reached about a week before the actual donation when the patient’s own bone marrow is destroyed with high doses of chemotherapy in preparation for receiving the harvested stem cells.

At this point the donor is seen to have a moral obligation to proceed because without the donation of stem cells the patient will die.

In compliance with international agreement, strict anonymity is maintained between donor and patient.

THANK YOU FOR BEING PREPARED TO ‘’ SHARE A LITTLE, TO SAVE A LIFE !!!’’

We have raised the amount of N$ 7000-00 at the
annual Cup for Cancer. We wish to thank everyone for the huge effort – especially decorating the tables – and for your donations:

Nest Hotel, Amica Gastehuis, Vogelstrausskluft Lodge, Gondwana Lodge, Sinclair Gasteplaas, Namtib Desert Lodge, Klein Aus Vista, Coastways Tours, Grillenberger’s Bottle Store, Nedbank, Namib Office Machines, Luderitz Yacht Club, Barrels, Windhoek Optiks, Seaflower, Raymond Hummel, Casa Santana, Diaz Coffee Shop, Salon Lay- Ann, Salon Mel-G, Bay View, Cymot, Netta’s Biltong Shop, OK Grocer, Suide Koelkamers, Seabreeze Coffee Shop, Leandra Burger, Heiko Metzger, Howard Head, Sandy Laufer, Kobie Esterhuizen, Rietjie van Staden, Anna Balhao, Daleen Le Grange, Jessica Nel, Bertus & Anri Olivier, Namibia Breweries, Rossetta Visagie, Nicky Entin, Linda Looser, Charlene Olynn, Petro Fourie, Anita Esterhuizen, Marie Schmidt, Cornelia Swanepoel, Sankie Klose, Maria Figuera, Ellen Langer, Yvonne Visagie, Lisa Punzul, Liz Swoboda, Annelien Petzer, Wienda van Wyk, Ilse van Bratt, Marinda Biwinga, Jano van Wyk, Maritza Morgan, Melanie Calaca.

Please don’t forget about our patients.
Phone us on 204 252 or 0812 753 013