Posted on 02/23/2005 7:19:11 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LOMA LINDA, Calif. (AP) - A Marine who received a liver transplant because of a near-fatal infection that developed after his return from Iraq may now need a bone marrow transplant.
Lance Cpl. Christopher LeBleu, 22, has a "high probability" of needing the transplant because he has developed aplastic anemia, which has caused his bone marrow to stop producing enough red blood cells to keep him alive, Loma Linda University Medical Center officials said Wednesday.
The hospital appealed for blood donors with Type O blood to join a registry of potential bone marrow donors so doctors can find a potential match for the Marine.
They also appealed for people to give blood that can be used for additional transfusions for LeBleu, who was stationed at Twentynine Palms before he was hospitalized in January.
LeBleu, of Lake Charles, La., returned from Iraq in September and married his wife, Melany, a month later. She has said that he began feeling increasingly ill in December. By the end of January, his doctors said he was near death from total liver failure. The cause has not been determined.
An unidentified liver donor from New Mexico was found and LeBleu underwent emergency transplant surgery. At the time, his doctors said the Marine was recovering well and had about an 80 percent chance of survival - aided by his youth and good health before his illness.
LeBleu was a rifleman in Iraq for seven months. He was part of a 2,200-man task force that lost 21 people and had nearly 200 wounded in action.
fyi
Bump
>>>Type O blood
Who do we contact directly for this?
Never mind. I skimmed and misread. I thought they needed blood.
Thanks. Cajun Mike was on the original thread earlier telling us the situation.
What would make a person a possible donor, blood type?
This happened to my friends son. I don't know if he was in Iraq. He was stationed in TN. He woke up one day feeling flu-like. The next day he was too weak to get out of bed and his buddies had to carry him to sick call.
His liver and kidneys failed. He was taken to U. of Omaha where he got the liver transplant. He was still on dialysis last time my friend had time to give us updates.
And I've seen other stories like this.
How does one go about being put into a registry for bone marrow?
Check out Yahoo Search Results for bone marrow donor registry.
Or run that search string in Google or such.
There are a few national and international orgs that should have the answers to your question.
Has any cause been found?
To all: from my wife, these may be helpful.
If someone is intersted is being a bone marrow donor, below are some links that explain the process and where one can register to be a donor.
http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/abcs_of_donation.html
ABCs of Marrow or Blood Cell Donation
http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/steps_of_donation.html
Steps of Marrow and PBSC Donation
http://www.marrow.org/cgi-bin/NETWORK/all_center.pl?ctr_typ=DC&sort_order=ctr_st
U.S. NMDP Donor Centers
Thank you for the links. :-)
I'm type O, in the Red Cross registry and ready and willing to help if I'm a match.
BTTT
Bump for transplant
BTTT
Mid week bump.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.