Be the match

I was being tracked down earlier this week. John called me saying that he had a message on his phone of someone looking for me because I could possible be a match. A match for what you may ask? Bone marrow donor! Crazy huh?

I was placed on the national bone marrow registry in 2004 when I was added during a drive to find a marrow donor for a little boy Courtney's age, Parker, who had leukemia. I was able to be added to the registry then for free, which was awesome. Side note to add that eventually a match was found for Parker and he has been cancer free for over 5 years now, Praise God!

Since I did not update my information with the registry when we moved here to Tennessee, they were somehow able to locate and track down me through John who is listed as one of two contacts for me.

I was told that I was identified as a potential match for a 50 year old man with lymphocytic leukemia. That is the only information I am allowed to know about the patient. I was contacted to see if I still have interest in being a donor and give consent to have further testing done on my blood sample that has been stored to see if I would be the ideal match for this man.

For me this decision is easy, Yes! I know there are some potential risks to me if I do donate, but they are relatively minor- they actually have a way to donate similar to platelet donation, which means no operation like traditional donations required. The way I look at it is if myself or someone I love needed a bone marrow transplant to save their life, I would certainly be praying for someone willing to donate to save their life. So for some potential discomfort physically, I think that is a good trade to possibly save someones life.

I won't know if I am the match until the testing is done, which takes 1-6 weeks. I will be notified either way yes or no. From what I have read, being at this stage I have about a 1:12 chance of being "the one". No matter what happens I am praying that this 50 year old man will be able to be treated and saved from this transplant whether it is me or somebody else.

Here is the link to the national bone marrow site, I encourage you to look at it and maybe someday register to be a donor.
http://www.marrow.org/