Marrow Month

Welcome to May, the month I've unofficially dubbed as Marrow Month. I received my transplant May 2012, and I thought I would take this month to post about all things transplant and try to inspire people to join the bone marrow registry.

As the anniversary of my transplant approaches, I saw these two amazing articles:

This story about a little girl who is now in remission because of a new form of treatment using her own "reprogrammed" T-cells. This is an amazing and effective treatment for patients who no longer have the option of chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant, and an example of how far cancer treatment has come in the last few decades.  

And this story about an athlete donating marrow to a patient.

I think it's amazing what this young man is doing for a complete stranger, and he is an example that everyone should strive for.

I'm actually kind of jealous of this donor! They're going to put him out while they drill into his bone and stick a needle into his hip to take the transplant material. I'm always awake when they do that to me during my biopsies! Ha! Lucky bastard.

Keep in mind: The majority of bone marrow donations and transplants, however, DO NOT involve surgery. I'm actually surprised that he has to undergo surgery for this donation. According to my doctors, it is only in very extreme cases that they have to harvest material directly from the marrow during surgery. The vast majority of donations involve a few pokes with a needle.

Basically, if you've ever given blood, you already have an idea of what the donation procedure would be like.

This month I'm going to be blogging about all things transplant, from the moment a donor decides to join the registry to life after transplant. If you've ever been interested in the process from start to finish, or you just like looking at poorly drawn illustrations and diagrams, stay tuned this month!  

Make May your Marrow month and join the marrow registry!

Click here today and join through Be the Match.