Thursday, December 20, 2007

Important Information

Since we found out about my dad I have wanted to get on the National Bone Marrow Registry just because I want to pay it forward. So if anyone is interested here are the numbers to call.

If you live in Michigan you call (800) 471-3020 and they will give you further instructions on where you can go locally. I have called this number and will update when I'm told where to go.
If you live outside of Michigan you call (800) 526-7809.

The procedure may be swabbing the inside of your mouth or asking for a blood sample.

The actual transplant is very inevasive. Basically they hook you up to a couple IV's and filter your blood through a machine to get out the bone marrow and then immediatly put it into the patient.

As of right now none of my dad's siblings matched but he has 6 people that potentially match 6/6 of the markers they look for and 5 people that potentially match 5/6 of the markers. Of the 6 people, 5 are sending in their blood this week. Don't you love the generosity of people, they could have easily put it off until the new year but they are taking time out of their busy schedule to help my family. Once the blood gets here it will take about 2 weeks to type it and see if they are potential donors. Then it's more testing if they are.

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