It was just one of those weekends where you look around and think, why don’t I always get this much accomplished? I got my place tidied up in a way I probably haven’t seen it in at least 6 months. Maybe even a year. Laundry, donation clothes, mail shredding, cleaned the kitchen floor (man did it need it). I weeded by parents front flower beds (though they are getting to be more of a mostly pretty bushes and only spring flowers beds). I tried out a new recipe for a pickled purple hull pea salad from over on the Homesick Texan blog (tasty as heck).
And I got registered for the National Bone Marrow Registry (www.marrow.org). A friend and I’d been meaning to do it for awhile. Luckily, there was a registration drive this weekend. Or semi-luckily. Of course the first listing sent me to an abandoned nightclub in downtown. On the wrong day. Just the kind of crackerjack organization that I’ve come to expect from Dallas charities. But by the time we got to a computer, we found there was another drive the next day.
We met a really interesting guy who was a marrow recipient himself, and who helped up us fill out the paperwork. The cheek swabs only took about 2 minutes. The paperwork about 5. And here’s something interesting I found out – 80% of all marrow donors end up donating through an IV, rather than the older procedure where they tap your hip bone. I wonder how many more people would be interested in signing up if they knew that little factoid. Because, everyone I talked to beforehand said they would consider donating if it weren’t for the post-procedure pain they have heard of. Personally, I’d be willing to donate either way, if I was a match. A little pain isn’t a lot to go through to save someone’s life. It’s not like throwing yourself on a grenade. Now that would hurt. And it would ruin your shirt.
But after talking to our registry counselor, we found out that the National Bone Marrow Program runs on a pretty low budget. They concentrate more on doing the work than raising money. Which is kind of refreshing to hear. But of course, that also means they don’t get the PR that a Susan G. Komen or American Heart Association would. So, even if you don’t want to donate marrow and are looking for a worthy cause to donate time or money to, consider NBMP. You can be very sure they would be very appreciative of either.
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2 comments:
Until I was diagnosed with MDS, I'd assumed they took the marrow out of your hip bone too (which truly isn't *that* painful - and I've had 3 bone marrow biopsies so I know). I know a lot more people would sign up if they knew it was more like a blood transfusion.
My friend Blair is also working the donor thing and is organizing a marrow drive up here. I'm so grateful to have GREAT friends.
I kinda thought the hip tap wasn't no thing. But not everybody's tough chicks like us.
Good on Blair! I wish I had that kind of initiative. For now I'm just going with my strength and yakking about it to everybody I meet.
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