Bad Info Can Be Deadly

by Awl Sponsors

Imagine that your best friend has blood cancer. Out there somewhere you know there’s a good shot at a cure — a matching bone marrow donor. You just have to find the right person.

What if you knew a pair of persistent misconceptions are making the hunt for your friend’s matching donor a lot harder?

A lot of people think that donating bone marrow is a long and painful process. Many people also worry they’ll get stuck with a lot of medical bills if they get called to donate marrow.

Those fears keep a lot of people from joining the Be The Match Registry of willing marrow donors. That’s a shame because everyone who joins the registry is a potential cure for someone with life-threatening blood cancer, like leukemia or lymphoma.

But neither fear is warranted. The fact is that in most cases, donors can give the peripheral blood stem cells needed for a marrow transplant through a non-surgical process in which blood is drawn from one arm, passed through a machine and returned through the other arm.

Even in cases where actual bone marrow is needed, the donation happens under anesthesia during an outpatient procedure.

And the donor incurs no costs. Medical and travel expenses are picked up by either the donor’s insurance or Be The Match, the nonprofit organization that runs a national registry of potential bone marrow donors.

Right now, there are thousands of people who are looking for a matching donor. Don’t let bad information keep you from joining the Be The Match Registry. Joining takes just a few minutes and a simple cheek swab.

And if you’re called to donate, you’ll get the chance to step up and help save a life.

Learn more about joining the Be The Match Registry today.