Today is Sal’s 42nd Birthday! Over 8 months ago, we weren’t sure if he would be here to celebrate it with us! It is amazing how far healthcare has come, but we are still looking for a bone marrow donor, so for Sal’s birthday, please consider signing up as a bone marrow donor or donating to help pay for the bone marrow test kits that are sent out each day to potential donors. So please help us or maybe even another family find a donor today!
Be the Match – Donate or Register to be a donor
There will be a Be The Match Bone Marrow drive at the Love Mud run in Temecula CA on February 16th. If you would like to participate in the Love Mud run please visit their website at lovemudrun.com. Use the new code MATCH50 this will give anyone who signs up 50 % off the entry fee. And we would LOVE it if you donate that savings to Be the Match! You can make a donation to the Be the Match foundation when you join or you can just come out and sign up as a bone marrow donor. If a mud run isn’t your thing, you can still sign up as a bone marrow donor by clicking on the link on the side of our blog “Register to be a bone marrow donor”
There will be a Be The Match Bone Marrow drive at the Love Mud run in Temecula CA on February 16th. If you would like to participate in the Love Mud run please visit their website at lovemudrun.com. You can make a donation to the Be the Match foundation when you join or you can just come out and sign up as a bone marrow donor. If a mud run isn’t your thing, you can still sign up as a bone marrow donor by clicking on the link on the side of our blog “Register to be a bone marrow donor”
Sal went to his checkup today. His doctor said everything looks good right now with normal ranges. We are still in search for a bone marrow. As of right now we just need to monitor Sal’s labs each month and will have a doctor’s appt every two months. If he starts having any symptoms he has to call the doctor immediately and they will schedule a blood test to check his numbers.
The doctor said in the cancer world, no news is good news.
Sal is hoping to return to work in March. He still has to gain his strength back. He started working out this morning and is hoping he can return to work as soon as possible.
We just found out today that Sal no longer has time in his catastrophic time bank, so we will have to start paying his insurance this month. We appreciate the deputies that donated in the past.
Sal and I would like to say thank you so much to everyone that volunteered and came today to donate and sign up as bone marrow donors. I can not believe the support from AMR and Cal Fire. They did an amazing job making sure there were plenty of fire trucks and an ambulance to attract people. Thank you Fire Station #7 for letting us take over your parking lot and TV room. Thank you Jeff La Russo and Theresa Williams for all of the hard work that you put into the event, it wouldn’t have happened without you guys! There were 60 people that signed up as bone marrow donors and about the same amount that donated blood, we aren’t sure what the exact number was yet.
We would also like to say thank you to all of the news networks and all of our facebook friends that were able to advertise about the bone marrow drive. The drive wouldn’t have been such a success without the support.
If you were not able to make it today, you can go to the Texas Roadhouse in Menifee tomorrow, January 5th, 2013, from 1130am-430pm to donate blood and they will also have a limited number of bone marrow donor kits. If you can not make it, but you still want to join the bone marrow donor registry, please go to http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/salaguirre and click on the link at the bottom of the page.
Thank you again for everything!!!
Thank you so much for your article on the Bone Marrow and Blood Drive
http://www.swrnn.com/2013/01/02/bone-marrow-drive-planned-for-local-sheriffs-deputy/
Thank you Press Enterprise for the article regarding the Bone Marrow Drive that is being held January 4th in Sun City.
http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20121230-sun-city-blood-drive-marrow-tests-set-for-deputy.ece
David Cruz thank you so much for airing our story this evening. We hope with the story being on your talk show we will be able to help more families in the same situation as us.
We know a lot of people have a dozen questions on how to help, please visit our own Be the Match website at http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/salaguirre If you would like to see if you qualify to join the bone marrow donor registry please go to the bottom of the page and click on Join the Registry. You can also find out more information on the website on why there is an age limit and what other health factors can affect whether you can be on the registry.
We would also like to say thank you to the following departments for organizing a bone marrow drive and blood drive on January 4th in Sun City at Riverside County Fire Station #7 at 26780 Bradley Rd in Sun City, CA 92586:
AMR Riverside
Riverside County Fire Dept/ CALFD
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department
Please join us on January 4th for a Blood and Bone Marrow Drive. Our neighbor and friend Jeff LaRusso and Theresa Williams have organized the drive to help our family. The drive will be held from 12pm – 5pm on January 4th at Fire Station 7, 26780 Bradley Road, Sun City, CA
For more information please call Theresa Wiliams at 951-722-8813 or Jeff LaRusso at 951-722-6713.
When signing up as a bone marrow donor, you will need to be between 18-44 years of age.
If you are not able to make it that day, you can easily go to our personal Be the Match website and signup. Once you are on the website you will go to the bottom of the page and click on “To join the registry online” http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/salaguirre
If you do not want to join the registry, but you would like to help, please consider donating to our fundraiser. Our goal is to raise enough to pay for at least 50 tests, which is about $5000.00, we have already raised $885! You can click on the “Make a gift” link below the thermometer on our Be the Match website http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/salaguirre
Thank you for everyone’s support!!!
Today we took the kids to Wrightwood to play in the snow. Sal was a little worried about going but I think it was worth it. He had some problems with the high altitude and the cold air but once he was use to it, he was a little better. Each day he realizes how much muscle mass he has lost, but each day he is slowly working to gain it back. He wasn’t able to walk too much or ride a sled, but he was able to share in the laughs and enjoyed watching the kids laugh and play in the snow. It is hard to live in fear of not knowing when the Leukemia will come back, but that doesn’t mean we have to dwell on it. We need to enjoy our lives and make memories that will last a lifetime. Today was one of those memories that we will have. Sal may not be able to do everything that he was able to do in the past, but he is still able to try. We still need to find a donor, but in the mean time we want to enjoy little things like going up to the mountains. 