March marks the four year anniversary of my brother-in-law Dewey's death. It's crazy to think that it's been four years, sometimes it feels like forever, others like it was yesterday. Dewey fought a short, bitter battle, and ultimately lost his life to Leukemia.
Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and/or bone marrow. According to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
An estimated 231,461 people in the United States are living with leukemia. An estimated 44,270 new cases of leukemia will be diagnosed in the United States in 2008.
Many patients suffering from Leukemia seek bone marrow transplants in hopes of a cure. Dewey was in line for a transplant, unfortunately he did not live long enough to have the procedure.
I am writing this post to encourage people to get involved. The US has an amazing organization that catalogs potential bone marrow donors, and is available for dr's across the nation to access in search of potential donor matches. This is known as The National Bone Marrow Registry. Finding a Marrow donor is a hard thing to do, there are many specifications on what makes a "match". But through this organization thousand of lives have been saved. To join, one's blood must be tested, it's actually pretty simple, you just give some blood. Here you can search for blood drives in your area that will be registering bone marrow as well.
The chances of being sought as a match are slim, but even a slim chance at potentially saving a life is motivation enough.
Minorities are greatly encouraged to register, there is a strong pull for possible minority donors. If you are thinking that maybe something in your medical history might make you unable to be a donor, please double check the website, you'd be surprised by how many things do not render people ineligible.
A match for every patient. Hope for every family.
We have a Registry of millions. But we still do not have matched bone marrow donors or cord blood units for all patients, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse communities.
We need more new donors to join the Registry and expectant parents to donate cord blood. With your help, more people will receive a transplant. And more families will have a future filled with hope.
If you feel at all compelled to pursue this, contact me. I'm registered and would love to answer any questions you have.
Thank you.
-JR
No comments:
Post a Comment