Getting Bonemarrow Typed Can Save Someone's Life, Even Yours

Around November I decided that there were things in my life that needed to change and change for the better. Slowly but surely I began putting things in motion, that would hopefully enrich my life. Some things were big (like marriage), some were small (like shaving my head), and others fall everywhere in between. There are still things that need to change, but for the first time in a long time, I'm really happy with who I am.

As part of my quest to change things in my life, I've stumbled upon something that I have desired to do for a really long time. I want to help people. No, I'm not talking about becoming a doctor or working at a soup kitchen, but I really want to help people. I know I'm guilty of spending quite a few hours between video games, internet and TV during the week. And while I learn, enjoy and so on during that time, I feel that at least an hour or so a week should be spent on doing something a bit more productive for society/my life.

In my heart I truly believe everyone is good. However our situations in life and beliefs at times tend to get in the way. It makes it seem as if most people let you down and really seem to have no compassion for anyone but themselves. However, a few weeks ago I spent around an hour emailing friends, posting blogs, etc. to recruit some messages for my buddy Anthony before he shipped out to Japan. The response was overwhelming to say the least. And well... today a bomb exploded right outside his base. No one was hurt, no damage was done, but it makes you wonder, what if? What if all these people who took the time to say "thanks" were never given an opportunity. What if the whole base was destroyed and I never took the lousy hour out of my life to try and get some perfect strangers to email my friend and at least tell him to have a good trip.

I decided last week, after seeing that I can rely on people and good things can come out of bad situations, I decided to dedicate myself to doing more good in this world. We live in a world of hate, arrogance, ignorance, and war, yet one small deed can go along way.

After listening to Penn Jillette's radio show (an older episode from early '06) he urged people to go get bone marrowed typed. What is bone marrow typing? Well, if you didn't know leukemia is cancer of the bone marrow. Years ago, if you were diagnosed you could only hope for it to go into remission through chemotherapy and other treatments. However today, you can actually transplant bone marrow and pretty much cure it.

Sounds great right? We cured cancer? No exactly. See, finding someone that's tissue matches someone else is about 1 and 20,000. They have to pretty genetically close to you in order for it to work. So, being given the odds of 1 and 20,000, it doesn't exactly get a patient's hopes up.

Now here is where I've always had a problem. I've NEVER wanted to be one of those post-traumatic experience advocates, that I would most surely become. For example, I don't want to joining Mothers Against Drunk Driving cause someone close to me is killed by a drunk driver. I want to join in the fight before something bad happens.

So I am going to become a bone marrow donor. Your tissue sample can be taken as easy as a swabbing your cheek for cells and mailing it back to somewhere, or you can go to certain places and have a few drops of blood taken. I have found one donation place where it's a whopping 36 bucks (and tax deductible next year of course). They send you everything to do it at your own home and you mail it in and keep on trucking. You may be a match and be called the next week, it may be five years or ten, or never. There is no guarantee you would ever be called, but if you do get the call you will save someone's life.

You can say no at anytime, so if you are called and are a match and you say no, then they will go on their way. But once again, you are saving someone's life! There is no cost you to either, the recipient's insurance pays everything. So, let's get to the question you are asking, "How painful would a donation be?" Not that painful. You usually go through an out-patient surgery where they put you out with some general anesthesia they then insert a need into your pelvis, extract the bone marrow and you go on your way. There is some soreness or tenderness but it passes in just a couple days and your bone marrow will be back in 4-6 weeks. And once again..... YOU WILL BE SAVING SOMEONE'S LIFE!

I stress this because, you never know when it might be you. Five years from now, something might come up and you might be begging everyone to go get tissue tested. Why not, go ahead and jump the gun? Another benefit to donating is they can match two donors together so if anything ever comes up, you would already have a match ready. Also, they can match up organ donors, so say your kidney gives out, then you would already have someone to call.

The only thing you'd have to do is update your address/phone number via their website or by telephone (free of charge of course) and go on your everyday business. This is a chance to possibly do something that would directly effect someone's life. This isn't like putting money in the offering plate, where you have no idea where it goes. The other cool thing about it is, let's say you get called up. After a year, the organizations will let you contact the person you donated to. They will set up meetings and all that great stuff.

So, I am asking all of you to join in with me to help make this world a better place, one task at a time.

There are multiple organizations that handle donations, I chose Gift of Life. The process I went through was a short medical history exam, which consists of the typical blood donation questions (have you gotten a tattoo in the last six months, are you pregnant, etc.). After you complete the exam, you are emailed a consent form that you print off, sign, and mail back to them. A week or so later you'll receive the kit in the mail.

As far as the kit goes, you simply take four sterile q-tips and swab all four corners of your gums. You place them back into a container and seal the self addressed stamped envelope and you're done.

Keep in mind there are other places and ways to donate, many companies/churches do drives whenever someone in the community is in need, or just Google bone marrow donation. The site I found was the cheapest at the time, so that's what I used.