Bone Marrow Registry

I know that most of you who read this blog have a lot going on in your lives right now. But I wanted to draw your attention to something that isn't going to be going on much longer, and which has the potential of saving someone's life!

For the next three days you can join the national Bone Marrow registry for free during their Thanks Mom campaign (which is May 5-19). It generally cost around $52 to join because of the cost of the tissue typing. It's simple to do - they send you a kit to swab the inside of your cheek and you send it back to them. It's free for the first 10,000 people who sign up online and 36,000 who sign up in person. I signed up this morning. It took less than fifteen minutes and the swaps will be coming to me in the next week. I am happy that my registration was free but a little saddened to learn that in almost two weeks 10,000 people haven't signed up yet.

I know that this would take a little bit of a time commitment (filling out the form and then of course if you are identified as a potential match). I have unfortunately had bone cancer affect my life (my husband's step-grandmother Lucy died from it at much too young of an age). Can you imagine the immense joy of having the chance to give someone a new life? Can you imagine the relief of the family members of that person if you are found? They say that only about one in 200 registrants end up donating... but if the chance is there for me to match someone I'm willing to invest the time. Will you do the same? It's free and like I said above takes very little time. Think about, would you?