Americanuck

superamit: Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor, who I’d...

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:44:10 -0700

Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor, who I’d gone to see the day before because I’d been feeling worn out and was losing weight, and wasn’t sure why.

He was brief: “Amit, you’ve got Acute Leukemia. You need to enter treatment right away.”

I was terrified. I packed a backpack full of clothes, went to the hospital as he’d instructed, and had transfusions through the night to allow me to take a flight home at 7am the next day. I Googled acute leukemia as I lay in my hospital bed, learning that if it hadn’t been caught, I’d have died within weeks.

—

I have a couple more months of chemo to go, then the next step is a bone marrow transplant. As Jay and Tony describe below, minorities are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow pool, and I need help.

A few ways to help:

If you’re South Asian, get a free test by mail. You rub your cheeks with a cotton swab and mail it back. It’s easy.

If you’re in NYC, you can go to this event my friends are putting on.

If you know any South Asians (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, or Sri Lanka), please point ‘em to the links above.

*UPDATE 1* Organize a donor drive near you (the most helpful thing you could possibly do!) email 100kcheeks@gmail.com. They’ll send you kits, flyers, tell you what to say, and make the whole process easy cheesy.

*UPDATE 2* Want to get a free test, but not in the US. Here’s a list of international donor registries that are globally searchable.

jayparkinsonmd:

My friend Amit Gupta founded my favorite photography site Photojojo. A few weeks ago, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Amit is one of the nicest, most genuine, most creative people you could ever meet. Prior to founding the awesome Photojojo, he also co-founded Jelly in 2006 in NYC, a coworking community, that’s now spread to 60 cities across the world and helped spark the coworking revolution. It looks like Amit will need a bone marrow transplant quite soon. We can help him with that.

tony b:

Unlike blood transfusions, finding a genetic match for bone marrow that his body will accept is no easy task. The national bone marrow registry has 9.5 million records on file, yet the chances of someone from South Asian descent of finding a match are only 1 in 20,000.

This is where we come in. We’re going to destroy those odds.

How? By finding and registering as many people of South Asian descent as we possibly can.

Tests are easy– a simple swab of the cheek. If you’re a match, the donation involves an outpatient procedure. It’s not fun, but it’s not dangerous either. And doing it could save a life.

We are encouraging anyone of South Asian descent to take a test to see if you’re a match.

You can get a free test by mail, or, if you’re in New York, you can join us Friday, October 14th for a special party to rally support.

We’ll have test kits on hand at the party, as well as music, booze, and maybe even a photo booth. It will, for the first time, combine a House 2.0-style party with a New Work City-style party, and if you’ve ever been to either, you know they are always something special.

Please spread the word and please do everything you can to help Amit beat leukemia. He’s a superstar.

Much thanks to Tony and pals for organizing this event, and EVERYONE who’s been tweeting and reblogging.

Please help get the word out any way you can. My life quite literally depends on it.

Day 171/365 - moon

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:24:00 -0700

Day 171/365 - moon

Day 170/365

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:06:00 -0700

Day 170/365

169/365 - cheating again!

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 23:58:00 -0700

169/365 - cheating again!

Day 168/365 - accepted into the bone marrow/stem cell network

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:14:00 -0700

Day 168/365 - accepted into the bone marrow/stem cell network

Day 167/365

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:59:00 -0700

Day 167/365

Day 166/365 - Idiot driver on the #5

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:00:00 -0700

Day 166/365 - Idiot driver on the #5

Day 165/365 - Tom slept through the DVD of the night…...

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:46:00 -0700

Day 165/365 - Tom slept through the DVD of the night… chick flick!

Day 164/365 - yep!

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:48:00 -0700

Day 164/365 - yep!

Day 163/365 - Sunset at Cannon Beach!

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:45:00 -0700

Day 163/365 - Sunset at Cannon Beach!

Day 162/365 - Cannon Beach!

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:52:06 -0700

Day 162/365 - Cannon Beach!

Day 161/3665 - WTF?

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:59:00 -0700

Day 161/3665 - WTF?

160/365 she’s cold??

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:57:00 -0700

160/365 she’s cold??

159/365 - damn flyer people

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:31:00 -0700

159/365 - damn flyer people

Day 158/365 - Miss Abby

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:16:04 -0700

Day 158/365 - Miss Abby

Day 157/365

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:10:00 -0700

Day 157/365

Day 156/365 - They still do this?

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:08:00 -0700

Day 156/365 - They still do this?

Day 155/365 - I don’t understand why, but he loves to lay...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 23:35:00 -0700

Day 155/365 - I don’t understand why, but he loves to lay on this box!

Day 154/365 - BC Place, I miss the old marshmallow

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:16:00 -0700

Day 154/365 - BC Place, I miss the old marshmallow

Day 153/365 - Flares

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:15:00 -0700

Day 153/365 - Flares