Be The Match Registry

At the San Diego Chargers Blood Drive, I was excited to learn that there was a Bone Marrow Registry table set up to sign up bone marrow donors.
I have been wanting to do this for a long time and jumped at the opportunity before me. After filling out a health screening sheet and personal information, 4 cotton swabs were placed inside my (mouth) cheeks and swiped-​2 on each side. That was all there was to it-​very quick and painless.
My mother once was very ill with cancer and looked into getting a bone marrow transplant to increase her healthy white blood cells since cancer treatment had decimated her immune system. At that time, it was unheard of to do a bone marrow transplant for the kind of cancer she had but we went to UCLA and tried. Now it seems that cord blood, stem cells and bone marrow have life-​giving and healing properties that we continue to discover every day.
The «Be The Match» Registry is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program and gives hope to patients with life-​threatening diseases. Bone marrow transplants help people with leukemia, lymphoma and many other diseases. First, patients undergo chemotherapy and sometimes radiation to destroy their diseased marrow. A donor’s healthy blood-​forming cells are then 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. Certain ethnic groups are underrepresented in the marrow donor pool so the needs are never-​ending for more donor sign-​ups.
If you are interested, the first step to become a bone marrow donor is to join the Be The Match Registry. Doctors around the world search that 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 anyone. If you are selected, it is imperative that the Donor Program have correct contact information for you, as sometimes these procedures are a timely matter of life-​and-​death.
Next time you see the Blood mobile out, ask about this valuable program. Or visit the website to learn more. If I could award «Be The Match» 100 Unilocal Stars, that still wouldn’t be enough for this wonderful program!