Friday, Jul. 11, 2008

Sign Up to Save A Life

By Lyn Pry

Staff Writer

Highland Village resident Doug Campbell is a husband, a father of three young daughters and a participant in a 2007 Half Iron Man Triathlon.

He is also a person in need of a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant to treat, and possibly cure, his fatal blood cancer.

The Campbell family and friends are asking compassionate individuals to take a moment to have a free test done to determine whether they might be the missing piece the Campbell family – and many other patients with similar life-threatening diseases – is seeking.

Initially, all it takes is a cheek swab kit to join the NMDP registry. For many, the inspiration for this drive is Campbell, a TNT Honored Hero himself, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma more than eight years ago.

This Wednesday, from 6 to 9 p.m., the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s [LLS] Team In Training [TNT] program – in collaboration with the National Marrow Donor Program [NMDP] at Baylor Hospital’s Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Dallas – is hosting a bone marrow donor recruitment drive at the GreenHouse Restaurant, 600 N. Locust, in Denton.

People from across the Metroplex will come together in hopes of finding Campbell a donor on July 9 in Denton. This is also the location for the TNT informational meeting to find out more how to get physically fit while making a huge difference in the lives of blood cancer patients.

Individuals can "TEAM up" with both organizations to help all patients with blood-related cancers. Anyone between the ages of 18 and 60, in good general health and willing to help any patient in need, is eligible to join.

For information on the Wednesday event in Denton, contact Stacey Campbell at 972-966-6422, or e-mail her at: s.condit@verizon.net.

More information on becoming a marrow donor is available at www.marrow.org, or call Clifford Ackerman local NMDP Recruiter Clifford Ackerman at 214-820-1589.

For additional info on LLS and TNT, visit www.lls.org/ntx, www.teamintraining.org, or call North Texas TNT Director Adine Zornow at 972-354-8331.

About the NMDP Registry

On any given day, more than 6,000 men, women and children are searching the NMDP Registry for a life-saving donor. These patients have leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases that can be cured by a marrow or blood cell transplant.

Today, only three of every 10 patients will receive the transplant that could save their lives. Patients in need of a marrow or blood stem cell transplant are most likely to match someone of their own race and ethnicity. Donors with diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds are especially needed.