BONE MARROW DRIVE FOR BELMONT MOM
By Franklin Tucker

13 March 2012

Seeking donors of Armenian heritage to help Debbi Margosian Chapman.

A physical therapist, Debbi Margosian Chapman was active and healthy
until late last year when began feeling drained and out-of-sorts.

Anticipating Lyme disease, the life-altering diagnosis for the wife and
mother of two was Acute Myeloid Leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer.

Debbi’s best chance fighting the disease is finding a marrow match.

But from the start, Margosian Chapman’s odds were reduced: none of
her siblings were suitable and she is of Armenian heritage that limits
the number of possible donors.

Margosian Chapman~Rs family hopes the greater Belmont community and
the area’s large Armenian population will step forward and is offering
$10,000 to the person who is a bone marrow match for her.

The family and Dr. Frieda Jordan, president of the Armenian Bone Marrow
Donor Registry, is asking everyone to come by on Saturday, March 24,
at 7 p.m., to the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center, 47 Nichols
Ave. in Watertown, for a presentation and bone marrow drive and become
a hero for Debbi or the many other Armenians with blood cancers.

If you~Rre between 18-50 years old, you just need to give a quick
swab of your cheeks so you can be entered into the Armenian Bone
Marrow Donor Registry. If you are a match, in the majority of cases,
your stem cells will be harvested in a manner similar to giving blood;
there is no anesthesia or surgery.

On any given day, more than 6,000 patients worldwide are searching for
a donor. Only 25 to 30 percent of patients stricken with leukemia and
other blood-related diseases can find a match within their family,
the other 70-75 percent of the patients depend on the stem cell
donation of a complete stranger to save their lives.

If you can’t make it to the drive but want to be tested, please visit
for more information.

From: Baghdasarian