PRESERVING YOUR
3RD ANNUAL
,‘ p,STOcir
<<"
,
f)
A service of the IFS WINDOWS Program
HERITAGE:
This timely lecture
Building Stronger
Families
at no charge.
BONE MARROW page 3
is being made
available to the
entire community
Our Guest Speaker is...
Joseph Giordano, noted expert on ethnicity and family
life. Mr. Giordano is the Director of the Louis Caplan
Center on Group Identity and Mental Health, New York
City. His writings appear in professional journals,
newspapers and magazines nationwide.
ness for an otherwise healthy
child, could be fatal to a patient
with an immune system weak-
ened by chemotherapy.
"She just wants to play," Mrs.
Cohn said. "She loves to play."
Lauren was almost in the clear
a month ago. With a crown on
her head and promises that this
would be the last time she would
have to be hooked up to an in-
travenous line for chemo, Lauren
took her last treatment like a
champ, even when the techni-
cians poked her back to retrieve
a bone-marrow sample.
She hopped off the table and
waved goodbye to her friends at
the pediatric oncologist's office.
She appeared to be headed for
those typical childhood experi-
ences of camp and school.
Then the results of the
bone-marrow screening came
back. Blasts, immature white
blood cells that appear in esca-
lated counts in the marrow of
patients with leukemia, had in-
filtrated her blood. Lauren had
relapsed.
"No one could believe it was
Lauren's blood. They thought it
Please Join Lis...
Learning to understand and respect differences
is vital to reduce conflict and strengthen personal,
familial and intergroup relations. Don't miss
Mr. Giordano's talk, "Ethnicity and Families —
Reducing Conflict In Our Multicultural Society".
Joseph Giordano
Getting Typed:
Quick Blood Test
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, June 5, 1996 • 7:30 p.m. • Applebaum Parenting Center
Congregation Shaarey Zedek/BNai Israel Building
4200 Walnut Lake Road • West Bloomfield, Michigan
;I)
JEWISH
FAMILY
A project of the
JFS Education
Forum Committee
and the agency's
WINDOWS Program on
Family Violence Prevention
Where there's a will,
there's 1Ye a leAt
way...
With a will, you get to decide how your property will be divided.
Without a will, the state gets to divide it for you.
With a will, your loved ones will inherit your favorite things.
Without a will, your loved ones may inherit bubkes.
With a will, you can leave a charitable gift and be a hero to your
community.
THE D E TROI T J EWI SH N EWS
Without a will, your community will never know how much you cared.
18
Make your will now Because later may be too late.
To learn more about the benefits of creating a charitable gift of any size in your will,
please call Jonathan Lowe at the Federated Endowment Fund, 642-4260,
ext. 207.
Ljtj r-
FOYUNSO N
alMetropoldan Detroit
aving tissue typed to be entered into the National Mar-
row Donor Registry takes less than a minute and has the
potential to save a life, said Pat Steele, bone-marrow trans-
plant coordinator for the University of Michigan Medical
Center in Ann Arbor.
But far too many people aren't sure of what is involved and
don't bother to get typed, she said.
"It is a really simple procedure," she said. "Two tubes of blood
are drawn and that is it."
For many people, that is where the process ends. More than
likely, they will never be called on to donate marrow to help an-
other person. .
Other times, it is just the beginning of a potentially life-saving
procedure.
After a patient is determined to need a marrow transplant from
an unrelated donor, a search is made of the national and inter-
national marrow-donor registries. The United States, Israel,
the Netherlands and Germany have about 21 million potential
donors on their registries while less than a million are on Span-
ish and French lists.
When six of the patient's blood antigens match a potential
donor's antigens, the donor, an individual in general good health
who is between the ages of 18 and 60, is called to have further
blood screening done. Another two or three tests are performed
before a match is declared.
Since time is usually of the essence, the donor is put through a
physical exam which includes chest X-rays and other screening.
"We want to make sure this is relatively low risk for the donor
and that it is low risk for the recipient," Ms. Steele said.
Once the donor is cleared for collection, he or she is admitted
to the hospital and put under either general or spinal anaesthe-
sia. A small, hollow needle is inserted into the donor's large hip
bone, below the belt line in the back. Marrow is then pulled into
the needle and stored in a bag.
The contents of the bag are then transfused intravenously into
the recipient.
"Most of the time there is some discomfort for the donor," Ms.
Steele said. "There is a bruise that feels like you fell on the ice.
But that goes away in a few days."
The procedure is supported by the branches of Reform, Con-
servative and Orthodox Judaism.
"Saving a life is a mitzvah," said Rabbi David Nelson of Con-
gregation Beth Shalom. "And this is possibly saving a life."
In fact, this month the National Council of Young Israel and
the Rabbinical Council of America distributed posters to congre-
gations, urging congregants to be typed in an effort to save the life
of 2-year-old Coby Levi of Teaneck, N.J. Coby's grandparents are
Benno and Ruth Levi of Oak Park, and his aunt and uncle are
Noah and Cherie Levi of West Bloomfield.
"Under Jewish law, you do what you can communally to save
a life," said Rabbi Steven Weil of Young Israel of Southfield.
The cost of the blood test is usually $45 but is cut in half by the
National Marrow Donor Program when a tissue typing drive is
held. CI