Letter from the Editor-November 17, 2008

Hello V.I.T.s,

We wish all of you a very Posh week!

As you know we will be going the the CNN Heroes event on Saturday in Hollywood. We are very excited to attend. We will take as many pictures as we can but you will be able to watch this event on Thanksgiving Evening at 9:00 pm Eastern Time on CNN.

We also would like to inform you that a very young cousin of the owner's of dekoposh, Inc. is very sick. His name is Austin and he is seven years old and he needs a bone marrow transplant. We would like your help. You must be 18 years or older to be a donor and it is not a complicated procedure at all. In fact just speaking about this and learning more about this we should be educating everyone the need to save a life with a bone marrow transplant. Please log onto National Marrow Donor Program and learn more. We have listed some information here right from the site.

1. Join the Registry Anyone age 18 - 60 who meets the health guidelines and is committed to helping any patient in need may join. First, you complete a short health questionnaire and sign a form stating you understand what being on our Registry means. Then you give a small blood sample or swab of cheek cells to be tested for your tissue type, and this information is added to the Registry. (To join now, see Join the Registry.)
	2. Stay committed and available Doctors search our Registry to find a donor whose tissue type matches their patient's. If you are chosen, we will contact you. If you agree to proceed, we will schedule more testing. (For more information, see When You’re Contacted as a Possible Match.)
	3. Attend an information session We will invite you to to learn about the donation process, risks and side effects. Please feel free to bring a friend or family member to your information session. We will let you know if the doctor has requested a donation of cells from bone marrow or cells from circulating blood (known as a PBSC donation). Then you can decide whether or not to donate. (For more information, see When You’re Asked to Donate for a Patient.)
	4. Receive a physical exam If you agree to donate, you will have a physical exam to discover if donating would pose any special risks to you or the patient.
5. Bone marrow donation Bone marrow donation is a surgical procedure. While you receive anesthesia, doctors use special, hollow needles to withdraw liquid marrow from the back of your pelvic bones. Many donors receive a transfusion of their own previously donated blood.	5. PBSC Donation PBSC donation takes place at an apheresis center. To increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream, you will receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days before the collection. Your blood is then removed through a sterile needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. This process is similar to donating plasma. The remaining blood is returned to you.
6. Side effects and recovery You can expect to feel some soreness in your lower back for a few days or longer. Most donors are back to their normal routine in a few days. Your marrow is completely replaced within four to six weeks.	6. Side effects and recovery You may experience headache or bone or muscle aches for several days before collection, a side effect of the filgrastim injections. These effects disappear shortly after collection.
7. Follow-up We will follow up with you until you are able to resume normal activity. After that, we will call you annually for long-term follow up.

Ways you can help, become a bone marrow donor, spread the word about this site for Bone Marrow Transplants, and/or pray for Austin. He needs our support! If you have any stories or comments to add please leave a comment on this post.

dekoposh, Inc. Team