23 August 2011

Gift Giving

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I have been an organ donor since getting my license (over 3 decades), have been a regular blood donor since turning 18 and pay an extra $25 per year to have a Donor Awareness license plate on my car (proceeds helping support organ/tissue donor awareness efforts across the state).  I have certainly heard of the National Marrow Donor Program, but just never got around to making that commitment.

A good tumblr friend of mine, George (badassblogger), recently learned that his mom has acute leukemia.  I will be the first to admit that I have always thought of leukemia as being a children's cancer, but when I started doing some research (yes, I did research - I want to be an informed friend), I discovered there was much I didn't know about leukemia.

I also discovered the importance of bone marrow transplants as a treatment option ... and the difficulty in finding bone marrow donor matches.

I've never met George's mom, yet her fight inspired me to finally join the Be The Match registry (formerly the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) Registry) and request a registration kit.



I want to encourage each of you to visit the Be The Match website to see if marrow donation is something you are willing and able to consider.

And please keep George and his family in your thoughts/prayers/meditation




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