Marshawn
Who could deny that Marshawn is one of the Cutest Dogs Ever? Not me! He is the sweet, sweet pup who belonged to an incredibly courageous young woman named Michelle Maykin. A lot of you know that my mom really loves doggies and in partiuclar shelter pups like me, but she also cares a lot about people with cancer who need bone marrow transplants.
Michelle was one of those people. I keep hearing mom say it is a tragedy that she didn't find a match in time. Mom has become very active in the bone marrow donor program for people ever since my human Auntie Tami got sick in Feb. 2009. Now Marshawn doesn't have his mom because she's gone to heaven but he has plenty of people who still love him and take good care of him like his dad, auntie, uncle, grandma, great grandma and lots of other people.
To you humans reading this... If you aren't a part of the National Marrow Donor Program but would like to learn more about why and how to join the national registry you can visit the national www.BeTheMatch.org website or the site my mom built for my Auntie Tami www.HelpingTami.org.
Did you know that of the 6000 Americans searching for a marrow matach 70% will not find one because not enough people have joined the regsitry? Ethnicity matters so espeically if you are of any ethnic minority group please consider registering, and even more so if you are of mixed ethnicities.
• Registering is pain free. It only takes a few cotton mouth swabs and a registration form.
• Registering is Free!
• Donating is now done using two methods:
70% of the time stem cells are harvested from your blood.
Marrow is still harvested from the back of the hip bone 30% of the time but this process is not nearly as painful as people seem to think it is. The discomfort is usually quite mild and the procedure is done with a general or local anesthtic so there is no pain during the donation itself. Add to that that most marrow donations are for sick children, who could say no to saving a child in need?
