Be A Champion – Be The Match
Actress and singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins (of TLC) is lending her famous voice to help others fight life-threatening diseases. Tionne, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease as a child, is partnering with Be The Match to encourage more African Americans to join the Be The Match Registry as committed members. Who We Are - About Be The Match  Be The Match is a movement that engages a growing community of people inspired to help patients who need a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. Be The Match offers the public an opportunity to get involved by joining the Be The Match Registry, donating umbilical cord blood, contributing financially or volunteering time. Our Mission Every year, thousands of patients with diseases like leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia need an unrelated marrow or cord blood transplant. Seventy percent of people do not have a donor in their family and depend on the Be The Match Registry, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)(R), to find a match. Learn more about us here. Finding a Match: The Basics For a successful transplant, a patient needs a matching donor. Special testing determines whether a patient and a bone marrow donor or umbilical cord blood are a good match. The closer the match, the better for the patient. Race and Ethnicity Matter Because the markers used in matching are inherited, patients are more likely to match someone from their own race or ethnicity. Adding more donors and cord blood units from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to the Be The Match Registry increases the likelihood that all patients will find the match they need.  Imani Needs a Marrow Match Eleven-year-old Imani looks healthy today, but her doctors don't know how long that will last. Two years ago, she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a disease of the bone marrow and blood. Though Imani's disease is mild now, her doctors are watching her closely. MDS can grow more severe over time. It can also change into a fast-growing, severe leukemia. Her doctors say a marrow transplant is the only cure. Patients are most likely to match someone who shares their heritage. Yet of the 9 million potential donors on the registry, only 650,000 are African American. For African American patients, the chances of finding a matching donor can be as low as 66 percent. Thousands of patients like Imani suffer from life-threatening diseases such as leukemia and sickle cell anemia. There is a critical need for more committed African Americans to join the registry so more lives can be saved. Your heritage can make all the difference! Get the facts about donating. A Match for Every Patient. Hope for Every Family. Thousands of patients are counting on the Be The Match Registry, whose 9 million volunteer members stand ready to become marrow donors. While many patients do find the life-saving match they need each year, more donors are needed, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse communities. Every person who joins the registry gives patients more hope of finding the match they need. Once you join, the most important thing you can do as a registry member is to stay informed and committed so that if you get the call to donate, you're ready to move forward. What is Bone Marrow Anyway? A Few Basics: Have you ever wondered how bone marrow transplants work? Here are quick answers to some common questions. What is bone marrow? Bone marrow produces blood cells for the body. The blood-forming cells in bone marrow grow into: > Red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all parts of the body > White blood cells, which help the body fight infection > Platelets, which help control bleeding A healthy body is always making new blood-forming cells, which are necessary for survival. If the blood-forming cells begin making many abnormal cells and not enough healthy blood cells, as happens in leukemia, a marrow transplant to replace the blood-forming cells may be the best treatment.  What diseases are treated with a marrow transplant?A bone marrow transplant is a standard treatment option for many patients with life-threatening diseases like leukemia or lymphoma, which are cancers of the blood. 71% of transplants facilitated by the National Marrow Donor Program are for patients with leukemia or lymphoma. Transplant can also be used to treat other disorders, such as sickle cell disease and certain immune system and genetic disorders. How does a transplant work? A bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant replaces a patient's unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy cells. First, patients are treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy to destroy unhealthy cells. Next, a donor's healthy blood-forming cells are given directly into the patient's bloodstream. This is like a blood transfusion. For a patient's body to accept these healthy cells, the patient needs a donor who is a close match. Over the next three to four weeks, the donated cells begin to grow and make new blood cells in the patient's body, and the patient begins the recovery process. What are your chances of donating? On average, 1 in every 540 members of Be The Match Registry in the United States will go on to donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) to a patient. Learn more on the Be The Match blog! Medical advances are making marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants available to more patients all the time. Since we began operations in 1987, we have facilitated more than 43,000 marrow, PBSC and cord blood transplants to give patients a second chance at life. Today, we facilitate an average of 440 transplants each month. ________________________________________________________________________________ What Will YOU Do With (it)? CLICK THRU to our SIMPLE ACTION STEPS that you and your friends can take today to bring hope to even more patients! ________________________________________________________________________________ 
|
Be The Match Registry
As a leader in the field of marrow and cord blood transplantation, the Be The Match Registry works every day to connect patients, doctors, donors and researchers to the resources they need. To help people of every racial and ethnic background live longer, healthier lives, they:
> Add more members and donated umbilical cord blood to the Be The Match Registry every day, > Support patients with resources and services to reduce barriers to transplant and improve their quality of life after transplant, > Educate doctors about transplant advances and patient care post transplant, > Conduct and support clinical trials and other research to advance the science of transplant.
A Friend's Testimonial
(it) magazine first learned of the important work of Be The Match from Michael Tohl's efforts on Facebook to save his Uncle Jeff. Here is his personal testimonial: My Uncle Jeff's only hope of surviving his battle with blood cancer was a matching marrow donor. Patients are matched with donors based on their tissue type. The more uncommon the tissue type, the harder it is to find a match, and Jeff's HLA type is rare. Because the markers used in matching are inherited, patients are more likely to match someone from their own race or ethnicity. For Jeff, there simply weren't enough Jewish donors on the donor registries around the world... not one match! With the help and perseverance of Sharlene Risdon and Be The Match, we recruited about 1,000 new members. Our efforts produced matches for three other cancer patients. After we tapped all of our resources, tried everything we knew how, and hope for Jeff was slipping away, an anonymous match came in from overseas! It's so true: What goes around, comes around.  Jeff received his transplant, and so far, he's testing cancer free. Be The Match supports the best cause there is: saving lives. Being a bone marrow donor may sound spooky, but look into it; you may find it's not so bad. Oh, and by the way, I am proudly registered with Be The Match!
Walk or Run to Save Lives
Merchandise That Matters
 |
;)
;)
