Welcome to the Year End 2018 edition of our
nbmtLINK E-nnouncement
As the Executive Director of the nbmtLINK, I am delighted to share with you that we have had a wonderful year of productive newness—a new office; a new logo; a new program series, “Lunch & Learn;” and a brand new board member, Matthew Carpinelli.
This year, we also hosted three new webinars, attended several excellent conferences and had the pleasure of meeting many new people who are now benefiting from our diverse services.
We could not have succeeded in all of these endeavors without your ongoing support. We sincerely thank you. In all we do, the nbmtLINK strives to provide psychosocial support to patients, caregivers and health care professionals to help them navigate the bone marrow transplant journey with education, support, compassion and hope.
We are sincerely grateful to our distinguished nbmtLINK Partners, a multitude of individuals, volunteers, foundations, pharmaceuticals and organizations who support us on so many levels.
Thanks in advance for any gift you decide to give. It is greatly appreciated and will be put to great use. Visit our website often for recorded series, blogs sure to inspire and much more. We also have new blank notecards and our tribute cards available in time for gift giving.
Happy Holidays to You and Yours!
-Peggy Burkhard

Dear Friends of the National Bone Marrow Transplant Link, 

Many of you will have seen this story in the movies or read it in a newspaper. I wonder how many of you actually have been told you have an incurable disease with less than a year to live? I was faced with just such a scenario five years ago. 

Thanks to the generosity of people like you, there are important organizations that help people like me who are in dire circumstances, to find the right treatment. One such organization, the  National Bone Marrow Transplant Link  (nbmtLINK) has helped and supported me after I received a life-saving bone marrow/stem cell transplant. My stem cell donor was a twenty-three-year-old student from Germany. He saved my life. 

(See above right, John and Marcella at their new establishment in northern Michigan.)

I am writing to you as a member of the nonprofit National Bone Marrow Transplant Link team. Our nbmtLINK team works very hard to raise funds necessary to help patients and caregivers find educational information and emotional support that will help before, during and after a transplant and survive what can be a daunting journey back to better health. 

Returning from a vacation in 2013 and feeling great at the time, an annual medical report revealed I had acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and that my life expectancy was short. At this stage, the most important thing to me was to understand the disease and my options. My loving wife Marcella took charge. She researched all potential opportunities to receive positive-outcome treatment. In the process, we both became terrified when reading on the internet about all the risks. We were lost and didn’t know where to turn because the only option offered by my oncologist was a months-long treatment program of chemotherapy. 

Through a dear doctor friend of mine, I learned about the potential of a stem cell transplant that could cure my disease. Immediately, we contacted the outstanding team of specialists at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston, Massachusetts. We moved to Boston and quickly began treatment. To my good fortune, they found a perfect-match donor for me. 

Since then, I am back to work, and enjoying life to the fullest. Several years ago, I started to look for ways to give back to others about to undergo a transplant. I learned of the National Bone Marrow Transplant Link and it has provided a way for me to do just that. Today, I volunteer my time as a board member and as a peer mentor--communicating with people who have just learned about their disease, advising them about where they can get the help they need. 

Sincerely,

John Costin
Survivor and nbmtLINK Board Member
Transparent and Proud!

We are thrilled to announce that we have achieved the Gold Seal of Transparency from GuideStar. This is a prestigious honor for the nbmtLINK. By adding information about our goals, strategies, capabilities, achievements and progress indicators, we are highlighting the difference we can make for those embarking on a life-saving transplant.

Check us out: https:// www.guidestar.org/profile/38-3027625. 

Announcing our FREE January 2019
cGVHD 4 Week Telephone Series!

Tuesdays: Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22 and Jan. 29

7 pm to 8:15 pm EST each week

Is cGVHD overwhelming you?
Is cGVHD affecting your quality of life?
You'll experience four weeks of expert presentations and meet new friends who can relate to all you are experiencing. New registrants only please.

Space is limited so please respond soon. Email Peggy, peggyburkhard@nbmtlink.org to obtain a registration form. Your space is not confirmed until you are registered.


We thank our many sponsors for their support including LLS, Pharmacyclics, Janssen, Incyte and The Meredith Cowden Foundation.
PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS!
nbmtLINK
2900 Union Lake Rd. Suite 213
Commerce, MI 48382

800-LINK-BMT
nbmtlink.org

How We Help Others!
We are a phone call away for patients and their loved ones. From one on one peer support to scheduled call series and webinars, we are ready to ease your burden.
Patients, caregivers and health care professionals are amongst those we aim to help through our valued resource books, programs and one on one calls.
We simply cannot do it without the support of corporations, foundations and individuals willing to make a difference in the lives of others.
We Invite You to Become a LINK Partner!
Link Partners include cancer centers and allied partners who annually support our mission of providing psychosocial support to patients, caregivers, their families and health care professionals dedicated to helping people navigate a bone marrow transplant. If you would like to learn more about the many benefits (books, programs, hyperlink on our website, bookmark inclusion) to being a Link Partner, please do not hesitate to contact us at (248) 358-1886. Want a free bookmark which lists our many Link Partners? Let us know and we will send you one!

American Society for Blood & Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT)
Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center
Be The Match
Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, John Theurer Cancer Center at
Hackensack UMC
Blood Marrow Transplant Program at Northside Hospital
Blood & Marrow Transplant Program, The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University
Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR)
City of Hope 
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center
DKMS (formerly Delete Blood Cancer)
Duke Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program
Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin
Henry Ford Transplant Institute
Incyte Corporation
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Meredith A. Cowden Foundation
Nebraska Medicine
Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine 
Spectrum Health Cancer Center
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center
UPMC CancerCenter
Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center
Thank your for being a friend of the nbmtLINK. We simply could not do this without you. If you can support our efforts at this time, we thank you in advance. Every dollar helps, especially year end. Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,
Peggy Burkhard
Peggy Burkhard
Executive Director
(248) 358-1886
National Bone Marrow Transplant Link