How to Save a Life

I'm convinced that everybody will get some sort of cancer if they live long enough. You probably know someone who has already confronted the disease. It starts to hit home when that person is your mom, your dad, your uncle... your prom date. In many cases, this harsh reality leaves you with a feeling of impotence. It's hard to think of what to say, much less what to do. In many cases there is nothing you can do. In some cases there is.


I have given blood several times over the years in the hopes that someone else may live in return for some minimal discomfort on my part. It's hard to say, though, concretely that I have saved someone else's life. We usually reserve that accolade for firefighters, police officers, doctors, military service members, life guards, etc. If you're like me, you've seen the opportunity of bone marrow donation, and thought, "I'd do that... for sure," but put it off until maybe someone asks. The problem is that people need it every day, and the only match may be someone they have never met.

How bone marrow transplants work

Healthy marrow and blood cells are needed to live. When disease affects marrow so that it cannot function properly, a marrow or cord blood transplant could be the best treatment option, and for some patients, offers the only potential cure.
A bone marrow transplant takes a donor’s healthy blood-forming cells and puts them into the patient’s bloodstream, where they begin to grow and make healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Patients receive high doses of chemotherapy to prepare their body for the transplant. Then on transplant day, the patient receives the donated cells in a process that is like getting blood or medicine through an intravenous (IV) catheter, or tube.
Thousands of people with blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other life-threatening diseases, depend on a bone marrow or cord blood transplant (also called a BMT) to save their life. And there are millions of people on Be The Match Registry^® and registries throughout the world who stand ready to donate the cells needed for transplants for patients in need.

                                              - BE THE MATCH
                                                http://bethematch.org/




I have a friend who is fighting cancer and needs the miracle of a bone marrow match - my prom date, actually. She is a wonderful person who is young, and creative, and a good friend. Please consider as a favor to me to sign up for the registry. The more of us on there, the more opportunities we have to save lives.


Please visit http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/hope4pam for more information. Be a hero. Save a life.


Thank you.