Bone Marrow Registry Drive

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

SAVE THE DATE!
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
10:00am ~ 6:30pm, main lobby

This winter at Arisia, representatives of the Caitlin Raymond International Registry and volunteers from the fannish community will be running an information table and registry drive. Registration itself is simple and painless: all you have to do is swab your cheek and fill out a form. To register you must be between the ages of 16 and 60 and in general good health.

70% of people requiring a transplant need an unrelated donor.

A person looking for a stem cell match may find one potential donor in a pool of 20,000, or 1,000,000, or more. The most likely match for someone is a person of the same or a similar ethnic background. No one is guaranteed a match, regardless of background, but ethnic minorities are especially underrepresented and patients have even less chance of finding a matching donor.

Then they have to hope that person is on the registry. You might be the match necessary to save a life.

Many people do not consider donating because they may not know they can help, but also because they have misconceptions about the donation process. The drive is a great venue for getting your questions answered.

Comments

[nightly-shadow.livejournal.com]

I can't make it to Arisia, but thank you for the name of the registry; I haven't been sure on where/how to sign up, but now I'm finally taking action. :)

It's because I talk to anybody :)

[wench33.livejournal.com]

I signed up with them last week and told them about Arisia and the blood drive , and the woman working said she thought that would be another great place to look for donors. I'm so glad it's happening!!

Looking forward to it!

[first-clark.livejournal.com]

Posters are up in the neighborhood, let's tag team again!

[buxom-bey.livejournal.com]

I will be sure to mention this in Friday night's promo skit. I think last year went so well they extended the drive to Sunday too. If that happens, let me know so I can add it to Saturday's spiel as well.

Do you know which table you have in the lobby? Does it usually cost to sign up? Is it free this weekend? Any info you can give me will be helpful.

[juniperthewise.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have a link to disqualifying criteria for either bone marrow donation or blood donation? It would save time if I could figure out in advance if any of my diagnoses or meds would disqualify me from either/both.

Thanks!