This is difficult for me to write, but we really need your help. My cousin, Cici, has been battling cancer for 17 years. She’s been going through chemo for such a long time, but now the cancer is not responding to the chemo and she needs a bone marrow stem cell transplant. This necessary procedure would hopefully give our Cici many more years to live!

What makes this more difficult is that the donor must be of Armenian descent because Cici is Armenian. We are asking every Armenian who reads this message to reach out to the bone marrow registry and sign up so that we can find a match for Cici.

Donating bone marrow is actually not as scary as it sounds. Before Cici told me all about it, I thought it was this really intense procedure, but it’s really not. There are two ways to donate and your doctor will decide which is the best method for you. The PBSC donation is nonsurgical and is basically like giving blood. You can read about this procedure here. Then there’s the marrow donation procedure, which takes place in an operating room at a hospital where a general anesthesia or regional anesthesia is administered. You lay on your stomach and the doctor makes a tiny incision (less than a quarter of an inch) through the skin at the back of the pelvic bone then the doctor inserts a needle and draws out the marrow. There is absolutely no pain during the procedure and most people go home that same afternoon.

Please help our family’s plea by signing up and pray that we all can save Cici’s life!

Here is the link where you can register to be a donor as well as find out more information about the procedure.

Thank you guys!!! Please keep Cici in your prayers. Xo