Bone Marrow Registry

[tamis]

A dear friend of ours was diagnosed with a rare form of ALM leukemia a couple of weeks ago. He's 15 years old and will need a bone marrow transplant in October to recover. Today the family found out none of his siblings are matches and they will now be looking at the national registry to hopefully find a suitable donor. I just want to remind everyone that it is easy, free, and could potentially save another life if you register to join the National Bone Marrow Registry

http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html

There are no costs associated with joining, and no cost involved if you are found to be a match to someone in need. All that you need to do to get started is take four simple swabs of your cheek and send the sample back in the provided postage paid envelope. It is easy, quick, and potentially life-saving.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

It is a great cause. I registered about 5 years ago now, and just had my fiance also sign up, which he is in the middle of doing. I think it's a great cause and very easy to do, and possibly life saving should someone end up matching up with you.

Kuddos to anyone who is already registered with it, or is considering doing it.

 

[met19]

When I was in college, I got called off the list: it was one of the things that convinced me to go into medicine. But want to emphasize how easy this is and how important. You really affect people when getting called off the list! It was a great experience!

 

[tamis]

Our friend is still looking for his perfect match. So far the intense chemo he's undergoing has killed the cancerous cells in his marrow, but a bone marrow transplant is the only way to cure the form of leukemia he has. Without it his leukemia will definitely come back. He's been in the children's hospital for the past month and is hoping to go home for a week or two. More than anything he misses going outside, breathing in the fresh air, walking in grass, riding a bike, & taking an afternoon to go fishing. Next week he should have been starting his first day of high school, but instead he'll be prepping for round 2 of chemo. This was definitely not on his summertime wish list, but he's amazing and his spirits are remaining very high.

A huge heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who has already registered, and for those who haven't I urge you to look over the site and see if you might be eligible.

Before our friend got sick I had no idea how simple it was to be tested as a possible match for someone in need. Now that I know the process I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. I really hope I can be a match for someone one day.

One thing I did learn was that on average only 1 out of every 540 people who register end up being a match for another individual. That's a pretty low statistic so I really hope we can get more people tested & give these kids and adults a better chance at survival. They so deserve it!