#bethematch

Join the registry. Swab your cheek cells so they can be tested. It’s easy and worth the effort.

Someone you know likely knows someone who needs a transplant. More people than you can imagine.

I decided to get onto the Bone Marrow Donation registration list - https://bethematch.org/  -, (even though I’m incredibly scared of needles)  and in addition to that, I made this video of myself doing the cell-swab so people could see how easy it is!

Donating bone marrow doesn’t have any negative long term side effects, it grows back in a couple weeks, it’s not a super terrible or scary procedure, and it might be that you, SPECIFICALLY YOU, are a sick person’s only hope of getting better. Below is a link to the basics of how it works:

https://bethematch.org/transplant-basics/

#BeKind21: Save a life

Today’s #BeKind21 message is brought to you by our partners at Be The Match.

This is how one woman saved a life through her kindness.

One year ago, through a heroic act of kindness and generosity, Kianna was able to save a young woman’s life. And they had never met before.

It all started two years ago when Kianna and her friends decided to donate blood. During the blood drive, they also learned about the need for life-saving blood stem cell donors. She learned that a blood stem cell transplant can be a cure for sickle cell, blood cancer, and other deadly diseases. But matching donors to patients is much more complex than matching blood type. Patients are most likely to match donors who share their ethnic background, and African American patients are in desperate need of more African American donors.

Kianna seized the opportunity and signed up to join the Be The Match Registry, promising to help any patient in need.

She never in a million years dreamed that she would actually be a match, but when she got the call two years later, she was thrilled. “I was a perfect genetic match for a 17-year-old girl suffering from severe aplastic anemia. I donated bone marrow in February 2017. I was nervous at first, but the process was simple.

“There are no words to express the emotions I felt, knowing that such a simple sacrifice on my part resulted in this young girl getting another chance to live a healthy life. I am a huge believer that everyone on this earth has a purpose in life. I’m pretty sure that I have found mine.”

Today, Kianna encourages everyone to join the Be The Match Registry. “You could literally be someone’s only match—their only hope for a cure. But you’d never know unless you join. Patients and their families are counting on you.”

Your kindness challenge today: Learn more about Be The Match and sign up to join the registry.

GIVE A SPIT ABOUT CANCER WITH DOSOMETHING.ORG AND JOHNSON & JOHNSON

70% of patients who need a bone marrow transplant rely on a complete stranger for a lifesaving donation but not everyone has an equal likelihood of finding a match. 

White Americans have the highest chance of finding a donor match (77%). Black patients only have a 23% chance, which is the lowest of all racial groups.

For blood cancer patients, there is a cure. And the amazing thing is, it could be you. Share the love this Valentine’s Day by supporting patients in need of a marrow transplant! http://bit.ly/2jw8q07

If you were an early or frequent tumblr/twitter user back in the 2010s, you probably remember this funny photo tweet of Abdul, @ advil on twitter, and his sister attending a one direction concert.

He is now currently asking for help as his sister has been diagnosed with cancer and is in need of a stem cell donor.

The window to find a matching donor is tight.