I was contacted today by Anne from the National Marrow Donor Program and she informed me that I have been selected as a preliminary match for a patient. How cool is that?
And yes, I know that it will probably hurt and take me out of commission for a few days, but I find that minuscule compared to the fight the recipient is going through. I will gladly accept if I am selected as his/her best match. A few days of discomfort for me are totally worth saving some one’s life!
Who else is on the registry? If not, why not? How would you feel if the tables are turned and you need a life saving transplant and you have a match out there, but that person is either too afraid of the pain or too lazy to get on the registry?
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oh COOL.
I totally want to pick your brain more about this.
Basically to get on the registry, all you need to do is find a drive, show up, answer some questions, fill out paper work and let them swab your cheek. I did that over 2 years ago and have heard nothing from them except to reconfirm my contact information. My take on the rest of the process is if you are selected, as in my case it is just preliminary, I had to answer and update my health information and they will do further testing on my sample (they freeze it). If I am chosen as the best match, they will let me know and I will undergo a procedure that involves them extracting marrow from my hip. They pay for everything. Check out their website too. They have a lot of good info.
Wow, was this comment longer than the blog post?
I am an organ donor, but not on the marrow list. There’s no good reason why. I totally think I should be. They don’t allow me to give blood because my veins are to small, but I do not think it would affect the marrow side. How do I do this again?
Crazy cool. Your BIL Alex inspired me to get on it…still waiting for the call. Good luck.
It was his friend, Bob, that had leukemia that inspired me to join the registry, but after years of blood donation and being an organ donor, I really don’t know why I wasn’t already on the list!
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