And speaking of marrow donation-

Here is an article that ran in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette about donors being paid for their stem cell donation.

Court allows pay for most bone marrow donors

What are your thoughts on this-
Is it still a "donation" if there is compensation?
Will payment increase the number of individuals willing to donate?
Could this exclude lower income patients in need from getting the donor materials they need to survive?

Its incredible to me that this is happening just DAYS after my own notification that I may be a potential bone marrow donor match for a patient in need. It seems like such a no-brainer to me- MY body makes healthy cells, I can give some away and make more. Would I be any more likely to donate if there was compensation involved? Absolutely not. My mild inconvenience and temporary fear is NOTHING compared to whatever the person who needs my bone marrow is going through.

Tell me what you think about this, Im really curious! I want to hear your opinions!

What are the odds....

Last night I posted a video about a young man looking for a bone marrow donor match.

Today I got a phone call from the Be The Match registry that I have been selected as a potential match for a patient in need.

In June of 2009 I joined the registry, which I documented here. I have been hoping and waiting, nervously of course, to get the magically phone call saying I was a match. And today it happened.

Of course there are more steps and it may end up that Im not the best match for the 39 year old, female, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient. With any luck, I will be. I go for additional screening blood work on Tuesday, and will be sure to keep everyone posted.

What a beautiful thing it would be to be on the OTHER side of this nasty disease. To be on the healing side. Think positive thoughts for me, and for the woman I truly hope to be able to help.

Pitt Bone Marrow Drive

If you live/work near the University of Pittsburgh, please take a few minutes out of your day to check out this VERY important event:

PITT is hosting a bone marrow drive in honor of two members of our community -

Seun Adebiyi (PITT '06) is 26 years old and a recent graduate of the Yale Law School. He is trying to make history as the first Nigerian delegate to compete in the Winter Olympics, where he would compete in the sport of skeleton. In June 2009, Seun was diagnosed with two rare and aggressive forms of cancer: lymphoblastic lymphoma and stem-cell leukemia. Most likely, Seun's only chance for survival is a bone marrow transplant, but he is facing grim odds. African-Americans comprise only 8% of the registry, and receive transplants in the US only 17% of the time. Seun's goal is to recruit 10,000 new donors for DKMS.

A member of the Pittsburgh community, 16 year old Amy Katz, is fighting leukemia. In 2003, Amy was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). CML is a type of leukemia that is rare for someone her age. The only known cure for her cancer is a stem cell transplant. Her doctors have searched the worldwide registry for a stem cell donor and have failed to find a match. But the search continues and your blood might contain the right type of blood stem cells that could help Amy or many, many others just like her who are also searching for a donor match.

Every 5 minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer and every 10 minutes, blood cancer takes a precious life. Many could be saved by a bone marrow transplant.

70% of patients depend on a complete stranger; they need you to be the one to give them a second chance of life. Only 3 out of 10 patients will receive the transplant that can save their life.

On Tuesday 2/23 from 10-5:30 and Wednesday 2/24 from 10-5:30 we are hosting a bone marrow drive!!!

It's a fairly simple 10 minute process. You fill out some basic information and we swab your cheek with a QTip. If you are found to be a bone marrow match, read about the two ways you might be asked to donate at http://www.dkmsamericas.org/bone-marrow-donors/bone-marrow-donation-process.

Help Seun and Amy find their matches! Take the first step and get swabbed!

If you or anyone you know would like to donate go to http://www.firstgiving.com/pittbonemarrowdrive

PLEASE, PLEASE INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS!

For more information visit http://www.dkmsamericas.org.

Make a donation to help cover the tissue-typing cost of all the new donors we will register! Visit http://www.firstgiving.com/pittbonemarrowdrive.

Mission complete- Registry joined!

So I thought Id share my journey in joining the National Marrow Donor Program Be the Match registry. I hope some of you did this and saw first hand just how EASY the whole process was, but for those of you who didnt, heres how it went down after my kit arrived on Thursday.



Supplies!



Swabbing the inside of my mouth (repeat x 4)



Label each swab then place in holder



All done!



Seal the holder



Drop it in the mail!

It was seriously the easiest thing to do, and SO gratifying and exciting to drop the envelope in the mailbox. It took me longer to make this blog post than the entire process took!

For information on how to join the registry, go to www.marrow.org and learn how you could BE THE MATCH that saves someones life!

More about the Marrowthon

I just completed my registration for the Be The Match registry, and my kit is on the way!

I only think this is noteworthy because I am SCARED BEYOND REASON of donating marrow. Hear me out on this one.

So 5 days before Rick died he had a bone marrow biopsy. The procedure was not foreign to him, he was a pro at it. Me, on the other hand, I had never seen one done. Not generally being put off by blood and guts I figured I could handle it. WRONG! I was ok when they jabbed the needle around in Rick's back to distribute the local pain meds. I was ok when the doctor started putting the needle in his back to obtain the biopsy and Rick said he could feel it. I was ok when the doctor plopped the globby specimen on the slides right in front of me. When the doctor said "This is no good, we're going to have to do it again" I hit the floor. Passed out in the exam room. From what I can gather, they went ahead with the second try and left me on the floor. When I came to Rick was sitting up on the end of the exam table, calm as could be, and I was surrounded by nurses.

As awful as that experience was, and knowing that one possible means of donating through the registry could be a marrow donation (as opposed to a peripheral blood stem cell donation, which is done much more like donating blood, and comparatively a piece of cake), I still signed up. I am, honestly, nervous about the prospect of being a match for someone. HOWEVER- knowing that by doing so i could safe someone the agonizing grief of losing their spouse or life partner that i have been going through over the last 13 weeks, I hope to some day get the notice.

I hope that some of you who are reading this have already joined, but for those who havent, please consider it. If I can put my fears aside I hope some of you can do the same with whatever is keeping you from joining. You still have a week to sign up for free, but the registry will ALWAYS need you, even if you arent ready now.

MARROWTHON!!!!

The National Marrow Donor Program has kicked off a "Marrowthon" in order to try to recruit 46,000 new donors for the registry. From June 8th to the 22nd, NEW donors can register for FREE (doing so online/via postal mail typically costs approximately $52).

From their website:

Bone marrow transplant is a life-saving treatment for people with leukemia, lymphoma and many other diseases. First, patients undergo chemotherapy and sometimes radiation to destroy their diseased marrow. Then a donor's healthy blood-forming cells are given directly into the patient's bloodstream, where they can begin to function and multiply.

For a patient's body to accept these healthy cells, the patient needs a donor who is a close match. Seventy percent of patients do not have a donor in their family and depend on the Be The Match Registry to find an unrelated bone marrow donor or umbilical cord blood.

The first step to become a bone marrow donor is to join the Be The Match Registry. Doctors around the world search our registry to find a match for their patients. If a doctor selects you as a match for a patient, you may be asked to donate bone marrow or cells from circulating blood (called PBSC donation). Patients need donors between the ages of 18 and 60 who meet health guidelines and are willing to donate to any patient in need.


For more information, or to sign up for the registry, click here.

The entire process will take a few minutes of your time, and could literally save someone's life.

I hope some (many) of you will take advantage of this opportunity. Please leave a comment if you sign up, so I can thank you personally!