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Join "Be the Match" for FREE to be a Marrow Donor
January 7, 2012 at
10:03 AM
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This month I decided that I wanted to join "Be the Match" to be entered into the database for bone marrow donors. I knew that it was going to cost $100 in order to offset the cost of the lab costs to test my cells. However, when I went to sign up yesterday it was nice to see that the American Express Foundation has issued a grant to pay for the cost of being registered with "Be the Match" during the month of January.
Simple go to:
www.marrow.org [marrow.org]
DETAILS:
When you join the Be The Match Registry® today, you are joining to help any patient in need of a bone marrow donor. As a volunteer, you are never under any legal obligation to donate and your decision is always respected. However, a late decision not to donate can be life-threatening to a patient, so please think seriously about your commitment before deciding to join.
You can give hope to patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell and other life-threatening diseases. Patients especially need you if you are between the ages of 18 and 44. That's because younger donors produce more and higher-quality cells than older donors.
The American Express Foundation has provided a grant to cover the costs associated with joining the registry online for the month of January. Service to its customers and to the community has been a hallmark of American Express throughout its 160-year history. As part of its community outreach the American Express Foundation encourages good citizenship by supporting organizations that cultivate meaningful opportunities for civic engagement by its employees and members of the community, whether as volunteers, donors, voters or patrons.
Simple go to:
www.marrow.org [marrow.org]
DETAILS:
When you join the Be The Match Registry® today, you are joining to help any patient in need of a bone marrow donor. As a volunteer, you are never under any legal obligation to donate and your decision is always respected. However, a late decision not to donate can be life-threatening to a patient, so please think seriously about your commitment before deciding to join.
You can give hope to patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell and other life-threatening diseases. Patients especially need you if you are between the ages of 18 and 44. That's because younger donors produce more and higher-quality cells than older donors.
The American Express Foundation has provided a grant to cover the costs associated with joining the registry online for the month of January. Service to its customers and to the community has been a hallmark of American Express throughout its 160-year history. As part of its community outreach the American Express Foundation encourages good citizenship by supporting organizations that cultivate meaningful opportunities for civic engagement by its employees and members of the community, whether as volunteers, donors, voters or patrons.
Community Wiki
Last Edited by mgm91
January 7, 2012
at
06:40 PM
Please ask questions and do research PRIOR to signing up. The process does have some minimal risks, and depending on the patients needs, could possibly involve some pain in the donation process. The simple truth is, you cannot know what exactly they will need of you because they cannot know ahead of time who you will match and what condition is causing their need for donor marrow. There are people who have been on the marrow donation list for DECADES and have never had a call. You just can't know ahead of time how things are going to work out or what will be needed.
It's better and considerably more charitable to think about this and know exactly what you are signing up for, than to just click and go. It costs a fair amount to process these, but even more important is the patients life and well being.
Marrow donation requires a VERY close match. A patient who gets marrow that doesn't match closely enough can suffer horrendous setbacks, and death is even a very real possibility. To be told there is a good match for you, only to have a donor back out because of fear or having not thought things through is heartbreaking on a level I hope no one ever has to face first hand. I have been there.
Address your concerns please. There is no one working in or with the organ and tissue donation arena that will be anything less than gracious and patient with any questions or worries you have.
I have been involved in kidney donation advocacy for a while now, but decided to join the marrow registry when a friends 4 year old wasted away in under a year from leukemia. The need for marrow donors is even more desperate than the need for blood, because the match has to be much much more exact.
Be the match is VERY good about answering question and giving information and I can also help direct you to info if you need it.
orphicdragon on the forums
[email protected] if you would prefer to email
Donation is one of the coolest things you can do, and if you know what you are getting into and what it involves you won't regret your choice.
Additional message from mgm91:
Hi all. I'm an intern donor recruiter with Be The Match and have experience with answering questions and registering donors. Please feel free to PM me any questions also. Thanks for signing up!
Myths & Facts about Bone Marrow Donation [marrow.org]
Donation FAQs [marrow.org]
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It's better and considerably more charitable to think about this and know exactly what you are signing up for, than to just click and go. It costs a fair amount to process these, but even more important is the patients life and well being.
Marrow donation requires a VERY close match. A patient who gets marrow that doesn't match closely enough can suffer horrendous setbacks, and death is even a very real possibility. To be told there is a good match for you, only to have a donor back out because of fear or having not thought things through is heartbreaking on a level I hope no one ever has to face first hand. I have been there.
Address your concerns please. There is no one working in or with the organ and tissue donation arena that will be anything less than gracious and patient with any questions or worries you have.
I have been involved in kidney donation advocacy for a while now, but decided to join the marrow registry when a friends 4 year old wasted away in under a year from leukemia. The need for marrow donors is even more desperate than the need for blood, because the match has to be much much more exact.
Be the match is VERY good about answering question and giving information and I can also help direct you to info if you need it.
orphicdragon on the forums
[email protected] if you would prefer to email
Donation is one of the coolest things you can do, and if you know what you are getting into and what it involves you won't regret your choice.
Additional message from mgm91:
Hi all. I'm an intern donor recruiter with Be The Match and have experience with answering questions and registering donors. Please feel free to PM me any questions also. Thanks for signing up!
Myths & Facts about Bone Marrow Donation [marrow.org]
Donation FAQs [marrow.org]
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
159 Comments
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putting you on the registry isn't the same as donating.
rtft
Swab your cheek, save a life !!!
All bone marrow donations involve surgery.
FACT:
The majority of donations do not involve surgery. Today, the patient's doctor most often requests a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, which is non-surgical.
The second way of donating is marrow donation, which is a surgical procedure.
In each case, donors typically go home the same day they donate.
MYTH:
Donating is painful and involves a long recovery.
FACT:
There can be uncomfortable but short-lived side effects of donating PBSC. Due to taking a drug called filgrastim for five days leading up to donation, PBSC donors may have headaches, joint or muscle aches, or fatigue. PBSC donors are typically back to their normal routine in one to two days.
Those donating marrow receive general or regional anesthesia, so they feel no pain during donation. Marrow donors can expect to feel some soreness in their lower back for one to two weeks afterward. Most marrow donors are back to their normal activities in two to seven days.
Here's a link to further info: http://marrow.org/Join/Myths_and_...at
1. Confirm you meet basic registry guidelines.
2. Complete the online form and order your registration kit. When you join, please also consider making a financial contribution.
3. Follow the instructions in your kit to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit.
Just as an FYI (and this is not intended to stop anyone from registering), the medical requirements are quite detailed and restrictive, so make sure you go through them and confirm that you meet the requirements before you register.
putting you on the registry isn't the same as donating.
rtft
Is there any incentive to register then? Sorry if I'm 'that guy' but after paying for 15 units of blood at the hospital, I really think the donors should get a little more than juice and a cookie.
You've got to be kidding me if you really think it's costing $100. (More like spending $10 to save $30).
The clinic probably won't get taxed.
Then they rip off the patients and insurance companies for the price they charge for the free product.
If they are taxed, it will likely have a low tax liability because the executives are getting such high salaries and bonuses (administrative expenses).
I refuse to take any part of a corrupt system.
You've got to be kidding me if you really think it's costing $100. (More like spending $10 to save $30).
The clinic won't get taxed because they are non-profit.
Then they rip off the patients and insurance companies for the price they charge for the free product.
They will likely have a low tax liability because the executives are getting such high salaries and bonuses (administrative expenses).
If by donating my bone marrow I give even the slightest chance to save another person's life, I could give a sh$t less how much AMEX gets in a tax write off.
Unfortunately, many people miss the point in "donating" and unless their is something in it for yourself, why bother.
Don't worry, if you ever need bone marrow, I will gladly donate to save your life.
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I'll be "that girl" too. There are artificial blood products out there that seem to be blocked at even turn. Maybe some lobbying going on there? The Red Cross is so big business. Imagine shelf stable blood products that would be around all the time. No shortages- but no big bills for patients. Yes I do regularly give blood even though I don't like how they run things. And my husband is in emergency medicine. So he deals in this all the time. Still not a red cross fan!
There's been a couple of threads on here about this, if you want to search for more discussion. It's linked to your reward zone account. A whole blood donation was 500 redcross points-which transferred into 400 Best buy points I think. A double red is 1000Red Cross racing and it trades to 800 Best buy points. ($15.00)- I could be wrong about the conversion numbers.
Best buy is 250pt for a $5.00 gc- It's not quite enough for a $10 or a $20gc
The new way is they give you a drug that induces your body to release stem cells out of your bone marrow & into the bloodstream. Then, they just take your blood like you're donating blood, & put it through machines that separate out the stem cells. So the potential complications now are mostly related to being given the drug.
Short answer: It's WAY better (for the donor) now than it used to be.
...
I refuse to take any part of a corrupt system.
You've got to be kidding me if you really think it's costing $100. (More like spending $10 to save $30).
The clinic probably won't get taxed.
Then they rip off the patients and insurance companies for the price they charge for the free product.
If they are taxed, it will likely have a low tax liability because the executives are getting such high salaries and bonuses (administrative expenses).
I refuse to take any part of a corrupt system.
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