A Message from the NTCI Parents Mailing List: _______________________________________________
22 September 2015 Dear Parent / Guardian: The OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network of Canadian Blood Services is honoured to partner with Toronto District School Board to look to young leaders in our schools to help us save the lives of nearly 1,000 Canadians in need of a stem cell donor. In collaboration with schools, OneMatch will be hosting a swab event to register potential optimal stem cell donors. What is the OneMatch program? OneMatch is a program with Canadian Blood Services that raises awareness about the need for more optimal donors and recruits blood stem cell donors to support the patients it serves. If your son/daughter is 17 or older, they may register as a potential stem cell donor at a swab event organized at the school. We encourage you to have a conversation with your son or daughter about what it means to join OneMatch. We want to ensure that everyone who registers is committed to the program and is supported by their families in making that decision. What it means to register If your child is interested in helping any patient in need, they may register as a potential donor with OneMatch. Please note that not everyone who registers will be found a matched donor because donors are matched to patients on a case-by-case basis. During registration your child: * Will fill in a general health questionnaire, and * Take a simple swab of the inside of the cheek (using long Q-tip like cheek swab) to collect a tissue sample for typing. All collected information will be safely transferred to OneMatch, to be entered into our donor database. This information will remain secured with OneMatch until their 60th birthday. OneMatch will disclose information only to the extent that is necessary to determine suitability as a stem cell donor. What it means to donate If your child is selected as a potential match for a patient, OneMatch will contact them to see if they are still willing and able to proceed with the donation. Additional health testing will then be performed to ensure they are the best match and are able to safely proceed with the donation. Stem cells will then be extracted in one of the two procedures below: * Peripheral blood stem cell collection is most common and is similar to blood donation. The donor is awake during this time and stem cells are taken from the blood flow through an IV at the local hospital. * Bone marrow donation is a day surgery performed under general anaesthetic while the bone marrow is taken from the back of the donor's hip bone. The donor is able to leave the hospital the same day and may feel slight soreness as if after a work-out. * Please note: stem cells regenerate in the body daily. Your child would not be putting their health at risk by donating stem cells. For more information please visit our website: www.onematch.ca Thank you for your commitment to helping us save lives today, and in the future. TOGETHER we can make a difference in the lives of not just our patients, but all Canadians. _______________________________________________ Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you do not wish to receive e-mail from North Toronto, please unsubscribe at http://ntci.on.ca/ntparents-unsub/ To contact the school, 393-9180 or e-mail: northtoro...@tdsb.on.ca ________________________________________________ North Toronto Collegiate Institute 17 Broadway Avenue Toronto, Ontario, M4P 1T7 ________________________________________________ NTparents mailing list: NTparents@ntci.on.ca http://ntci.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/ntparents_ntci.on.ca _______________________________________________
