JOIN
When you join the Registry, you can save a life.
Every day, thousands of patients who need a life-saving transplant search for a donor.
But only 30% will find a suitable donor within their family, as I did. The remaining 70% must find an unrelated donor whose tissue type matches theirs. (Is your Race in the Race?) Take the first step to save a life - join the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.
When you become a member of the Registry, you join the global movement of more than 10 million donors who stand ready to give someone their Amarrowcan Dream.
Even with a Registry of millions, there are many patients waiting and hoping. Their best chances for a cure exist in the unregistered bones of the community. It could be you.
Please find it within your heart to give what's in your bones. Join today.
STEPS TO JOIN
These steps may be done in person at the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center in San Antonio, at one of our donor drives (join Marrow Me?-Connect to stay in the network), or by requesting a donor packet online at marrow.org/join.
1. Complete a registration form with contact information, health history questions, and a signed agreement to join the Registry.
2. Give a swab of cheek cells so your tissue type can be tested.
That's it. Your tissue type is then added to the registry.
At this point you can join the Marrow Me?-Fund. Choose different ways to help - one time, minimal recurring payment (about $1 a week for a year), and set up a personal fundraising page through Marrow Me?-Connect (the Amarrowcan Social Network).
HEALTH GUIDLINES
These conditions would prevent you from joining:
- HIV or risk for HIV
- Hepatitis or risk of hepatitis
- most forms of heart disease or cancer
- chronic lung disease
- Diabetes requiring insulin or diabetes-related health issues
- Diseases that affect blood clotting or bleeding
- Recent back surgery, or severe ongoing back problems
- Autoimmune/neurological disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or multiple sclerosis
- An organ or marrow transplant recipient
- Significant obesity
THE BASICS OF MARROW TRANSPLANTATION
What is a marrow transplant?
It is a life-saving treatment for people with leukemia, lymphoma and many other diseases.
First, patients undergo chemotherapy and/or radiation to destroy their diseased marrow. Then a donor's healthy blood cells are given directly into the patient's blood stream, where they can begin to function and multiply.
In order to accept these healthy blood cells, the donor's tissue type needs to match a patient's type as closely as possible. (Is your RACE in the RACE?)
HOW IS A MATCH DETERMINED?
A match occurs when one person'e tissue type is very similar or identical to another's. (In my case, my brother James was my marrow match.)
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing determines whether a donor and patient are a good match. HLA antigens are found on most cells in your body. Your immune system use HLA to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not.
The closer the match between patient's HLA and yours, the better for the patient.
RACE AND ETHNICITY
Racial and ethnic heritage are very important factors. Because HLA tissue types are inherited, patients are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity.
IS YOUR RACE IN THE RACE? This is the Marrow Match way of stressing the importance of growing a diverse registry. In my case, if my brother was not my match, I would have been dependent on a half hispanic, half German/Irish person on the registry to save my life. Chances would have been slim. I am so grateful for this life. Please help us find a match for everyone who needs it. Join today.
Donors of these backgrounds are especially needed:
- Black or African American
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Asian
- Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- Hispanic or Latino
- Mixed Heritage
THE DONATION PROCESS
If you match a patient, these are the steps you'll follow:
- Attend an information session.
- Receive a physical exam.
- Give marrow through a surgical procedure (marrow harvest) or give blood forming cells through apheresis (PBSC donation)
MARROW donation
This is a surgical out-patient procedure. While donors receive anesthesia, doctors withdraw liquid marrow from the back of the pelvic bone. The donor's marrow completely replaces itself within four to six weeks. After donation, donors can expect to feel some soreness in the lower back for a few days or longer. Most donors are back to their usual routine in a few days.
PBSC donation
This is a non-surgical out-patient procedure. Donors receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days before the collection, to increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream. Then through a process called apheresis, a donor's blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor through the other arm. Donors may experience headache or bone or muscle aches for several days before collection. These are normal side effects of the filgrastim injections and disappear shortly after donation.
4. Recover from any side effects.
5. Receive follow up support
You will get information every step of the way.
For more detailed information, please visit marrow.org/join