Over the holidays, one of my coworkers lost his father to lymphoma. In his honor, a few other coworkers and I decided we would get on the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. And I'm really excited to say that I did so today.
All they did was take a mouth swab, and they'll analyze the cells to see if there's a match in the system of a person needing a bone marrow transplant. Should they ever find someone that is a potential match, there will more testing before undergoing any donation.
Cancer is something that has always scared me. It's hit close to home as I've watched close family and friends battle the disease. But over the past few years that I've worked in health care, I've come to realize that in many cases it's beatable. With advances in technology and early detection, the survival rate is on the up-and-up. That's good news!
One word of encouragement though: take care of yourself! Eat well and exercise. Do your preventive monthly self-exams and take into consideration what your body is telling you. Schedule an appointment to see a doctor if you're feeling unwell. And find a good support system. We can't do this thing called life on our own.
If you're interested in becoming a donor, or are just curious what I signed up for, read more about it all at http://www.marrow.org/.
No comments:
Post a Comment