Just a quick blog about the IU Bone Marrow Drive on Monday, March 1st. The drive on campus is to register bone marrow donors to the national registry. If you go to the website, http://www.dkmsamericas.org/drives/save-life-indiana-university-bone-marrow-drive, you can read more about the event. You’ll also read a story about Lindsay, a young college student at Duke that was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2008. She is actually a family friend. Our mothers have been friends since childhood and still keep in touch, as well as see each other every few years. Lindsay is originally from Ohio, where her family still lives. For the two years that Todd and I lived in Ohio, Lindsay’s mother had us over to their home and “watched” over us for my mom.
Not everyone can or will want to sign up for the national bone marrow registry. But if you are interested, getting started is easy – you can sign up and provide a swab of cells from your cheek to determine your tissue type. After that, you are added to the registry for doctors to search for matches. You can join or remove yourself from the registry at any time. More information on how bone marrow donation actually occurs, see the information at http://www.dkmsamericas.org/bone-marrow-donors/bone-marrow-donation-process. If you read about the two different procedures, Lindsay is currently trying to find a match for the PBSC procedure.
If you don't live in Bloomington, but are interested, no worries! Go to http://www.dkmsamericas.org/bone-marrow-donors/bone-marrow-donation-process and look for donor drives in your area, request a home donor kit, or just donate. Every little bit can help!
2 comments:
Nice! I think I'll do it!
Great info, Christan - thanks! I walk right by the Frangipani Room every single day to get coffee so I have no excuse not to stop in and do it.
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