Mother's Day Bone Marrow Donor Drive

Every year, thousands of people discover they need a bone marrow transplant. In about 70% of those cases, there won't be a match within the family, so they will need to look in the national registry to hopefully find a match. In fact, on any given day, there are approximately 6000 people searching the National Marrow Donor Program registry, hoping to find a match. Obviously, if more people were in that registry, the chance of them each finding that perfect match would go up.

In case you're wondering if I put my money where my mouth is, I joined the registry about 3 years ago when they did a registration drive at my old office. In my case, they did a simple finger stick & took about 4 drops of blood. Nowadays, you don't even have to do that much -- a simple cheek swab is all it'll take. No pain. No needles. (No excuses.)

In honor of Mother's Day, the National Marrow Donor Program is suspending the fees they usually charge for someone to become part of that registry. From May 5-19, 2008, sponsors/donors will pick up the tab for the first 46,000 people to join the registry, including the first 10,000 to register online; that's right, you can click on the link below, sign up & they'll send you the kit to do the cheek swab all by yourself in the safety/security of your own home. Can't get much more convenient than that, huh?

You can get more info on how to sign up online or get a list of places where you can register in-person by going here.

I think I'd be behind this effort no matter what, but will admit it is somewhat personal now. I mentioned in a previous post that my SO battled lymphoma last year. Had the chemo & radiation not worked at the time, or if the tumor comes back, he most likely will be looking at needing a bone marrow transplant. In his case, at least at this moment, he is a good candidate for a autologous donation, meaning he could be his own donor. However, not everyone is so lucky.

You never know when you might be able to help or what that help would mean. I signed up never imagining I might someday be sitting on the side where I or someone I love would need to find a donor. It would be great if everyone who ever had to be in that same situation had an excellent chance of finding a match. Let's see if we can make each one of their odds 46,000 potential donors better!

Here's the link again in case you missed it.


PS. Feel free to cross post this far & wide. The more exposure, the better!