THAIS TURN OUT FOR BONE MARROW TESTS.Byline: Sandy Yang Staff Writer NORTH HOLLYWOOD - About 100 of the New Year celebrants at the Wat Thai Temple over the weekend welcomed in the new millennium by signing up as potential bone marrow donors for a 16-year-old New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of boy with leukemia leukemia (l  kē`mēə), cancerous disorder of the blood-forming tissues (bone marrow, lymphatics, liver, spleen) characterized by excessive production of immature or mature . ``I'm impressed with the turnout,'' said Chaiyutt Vacharasanee, who has tried through four previous bone marrow drives to find a life-saving match for his son, Piya. ``This is the biggest turnout we've had.'' On Saturday, Alhambra resident Nick Supapisal, 28, was squeamish squea·mish adj. 1. a. Easily nauseated or sickened. b. Nauseated. 2. Easily shocked or disgusted. 3. Excessively fastidious or scrupulous. about giving a blood sample that will test if his bone marrow is compatible with Piya's. But he decided, he said, that participating in the drive was a good way to start the year. ``It was my first time and I was scared. I was going, Aarghhh, but it didn't hurt too much,'' Supapisal said. ``Today is New Year's. I wanted to do something good.'' It will take about eight weeks to find out if any of the volunteers who gave blood samples Saturday are a match for Piya, who was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) Also called chronic myelocytic leukemia, malignant disorder that involves abnormal accumulation of white cells in the marrow and bloodstream. Mentioned in: Bone Marrow Transplantation in October 1998. Piya is in New York, receiving chemotherapy five times a week to battle the cancer. His only chance for a cure is to find a match for a bone-marrow transplant. The odds of finding bone marrow that matches his, however, can be ``one in 100 to one in a million,'' said Sharon Sugiyama, project director of Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. sponsoring the drive at the North Hollywood temple. ``Asians and minorities have less chance of finding a match, because there is a lack of minority donors.'' Sugiyama explained that bone marrow characteristics are inherited inherited received by inheritance. inherited achondroplastic dwarfism see achondroplastic dwarfism. inherited combined immunodeficiency see combined immune deficiency syndrome (disease). . Thus, Piya has a better chance to find a match within a Thai community, such as the community of 100,000 people in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and 20,000 in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Piya has already exhausted the possibility of a match among the 5 million people who are recorded in the worldwide registry. Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches sponsors bone marrow drives to expand their database, as well as giving patients such as Piya another chance to find a match, Sugiyama said. Vacharasanee has already spearheaded four other bone marrow drives for his son. Volunteers have helped print notices for these drives in newspapers, distribute fliers through local businesses and translate literature into Thai. In February, Vacharasanee plans to go to Thailand and hold a drive at an army base. He expects 2,000 volunteers. Vacharasanee says he continues to search even after not finding one match in the database of 5 million or in the drives. ``I'm working less and spending more . . . (but) there's no alternative, we can't cut corners,'' Vacharasanee said. ``Sometimes I sit and watch my son. His body aches, his head aches and he aches at the sight of food. There was nothing I could do about it.'' |
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