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Monthly Archives: February 2006
Late to the Party
This week is kicking my ass, and probably yours, too. But I’d say it’s pretty likely you didn’t get a tear in your colon and a heap of medical bills besides.
Help BG per Dr. Pauly’s instructions by transferring $20 to one of these two online accounts:
Full Tilt: GamblingBlues
Stars: HeyKidsItsBG
Thanks.
Briefly
The s.o. had a dream last Tuesday that I had a hole in my pants. This was interpreted Wednesday to mean that I’d lose money in gambling in the month of February.
The s.o. joined in the fun at HDouble’s home game. She took 3rd in the tourney. She caught a 2-outer against me in the cash game to give me a net loss for the evening. As it turned out, one of the other players had actually folded one of those two outs, so… yep.
One other notable hand occurred when I limped with 77. Absinthe limped along, and RW raised the pot. For some reason, no one folds in this game. I certainly didn’t, and figured Absinthe would go along for the ride. Flop comes AA7 and I check to Absinthe who moves in for the rest of his chips. RW calls all-in and I call as well. I show my sevens and RW shows his AK. Absinthe hangs onto his cards. The case ace falls on the turn and quad aces takes down the main pot. I take the side pot from Absinthe with aces full and… end up not having lost any money in the hand. Crazy shit.
LA Poker Classic Weekend #3
Went back to Commerce Saturday night for more 20/40. Missed a couple draws, missed a few flops, only took the blinds with AA, went card dead off and on, and ended up trickling away 10BB, for an hourly of -2BB/hr. Not great, but then again, I’d been stuck 20BB until a mini-rush in one orbit cut that in half. The nature of these games is that you can often hover around being two good pots away from even, and that keeps me in the game.
That is, until I call the s.o. on the cell phone three times, don’t reach her, and then go wandering around the Crowne Ballroom looking for her among the 2/4 tables. She was down 38BB or so and looking a little worn out. We waited out her orbit, cashed in her chips, then went to collect mine.
I felt okay about the loss and had intended to head back Sunday to whack away at the 9/18 game, but ultimately decided that the Superbowl was going to put a damper on a lot of the action and stayed home instead.
There’s something about losing a buy-in in online poker that’s more demoralizing than losing a larger dollar value in a live game. Maybe it’s the pace of the action or something, but yeah, if I were really tiltable I’d be sitting in that Party BBJ 15/30 game right now. I won’t, but I almost feel bad enough to make some grand declarations to my reading public about how I’m going to do this or that and swear off online limit games and only play WPBT tourneys, but that’d be pretty silly. I should just be a better player.
Seeking potential bone marrow donors (Filipino, 18-61)
My friend Jake’s girlfriend is very sick and needs help. Please read:
Dear Friends,
This isn’t a happy email.
We got the results of Christine’s biopsy over the holidays. It turns out that her cancer is back. It’s a rare and extremely aggressive form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The survival rates are not good. The fact that it’s the same cancer is the worst possible news, because it means that it did not respond to treatment.
Medically, the only option Christine has left is a Bone Marrow Transplant. The survival rate of this procedure is 30-40%. Of those who do survive the procedure itself, only 50% survive the next two years. However, if she does survive those two years, it means the cancer won’t come back.
This is a pretty terrible option. However, the non medical option is also horrible. Her doctor says that if she chooses not to have the Bone Marrow Transplant, she’ll be dead within a year.
I’m sorry to dump such upsetting news on everyone, but I need your help.
I need to find her a bone marrow donor.
This is hard enough for the average person. There are over 20,000 types of bone marrow, so the average person has a 1 in 20,000 chance of finding a match. These numbers are even worse for Christine. Because she is Filipino, she needs to find a donor of the same ethnic background, and there are hardly any Filipinos on the National Registry.
Because we caught the cancer early, right now is our best chance of having the Bone Marrow Transplant work. Every day we lose her chances of surviving drop.
So please, contact your friends, and ask them to contact their friends. Anyone you know who is Filipino and between the ages of 18 and 61 is a potential donor. The system is nationwide, so it doesn’t matter where they live. Signing up on the registry is easy and painless. All it requires is a simple blood test. Some hospitals charge a small fee for this blood test, however if your friends contact me directly, I can put them in touch with one of the hundreds of local organizations that will do the blood test for free. They can use this email address:
You can reassure your friends that signing up for the registry does not require donating any bone marrow. If it turns out they are a match, they will be contacted, and can make the decision at that point about becoming a donor.
There are lots of misconceptions about donating bone marrow. (I know I was terrified of doing it before I learned how minor the procedure actually is.) The procedure is simple and safe. You will be anesthetized the whole time, so you will not feel anything. When the procedure is over, you may have some soreness in the area for a few days and you may feel a little tired. That’s it. The bone marrow you donate is replenished within 3-4 weeks. And again, you will only undergo this procedure if your blood sample shows that you are a match and you decide to donate, in which case the slight soreness you’ll be feeling will be saving someone’s life.
All medical expenses for the donor will be covered by Christine’s insurance. And as I mentioned before, if they contact me directly, I can put them in touch with an organization near them that will put them on the National Registry for free and also make sure they are listed as a Sponsor for Christine. Here’s my email address again:
You can find out more about the registry and the donation procedure at this website:
In the next few days, we’ll be setting up a Myspace account to keep you updated on Christine’s progress. Let me know if you’d like to be included and I’ll add you to the list.
We are exploring alternative methods of treatment as well. So if you know of anyone who’s had success treating cancer with any methods, please let me know so I can pass the information on to Christine.
Finally, a request from Christine. If it fits with your beliefs, she’d like you to say a prayer for her tonight.
Thanks so much for your help,
Jake
PS. Regardless of your ethnic background, if you’re interested in donating please feel free to contact me and I will put you in touch with an organization that can help put you on the registry.
I also received an email forwarded from Sean Kent today. Apparently Christine “needs a bone marrow transplant within the next 2 months to survive.” There is a health fair this Sunday in the SF Valley where you can take a free test. From Sean: “Christine’s hospital – City of Hope – has agreed to rush getting the results for anyone who is tested at this event!!!!!! This is a great opportunity to save our friend’s life!!!”
Details:
Our Lady Of Peace Parish
15444 Nordhoff St
North Hills, CA 91343
Thanks for reading.