Donating Bone Marrow Part 1

Sunday 2nd April, 2017

59.7% of people over the past 5 years have survived Leukaemia, 40.3% didn't. This ranges mainly in young children, but cancer doesn't have favourites, it picks who it wants. That's a crazy scary thought to think that if you were to be diagnosed, you'd only have a 60/40 chance of survival...

For the past couple of years I have always wanted to donate bone marrow. In all honesty there was nothing in particular that prompted me to do it or anything/anyone that encouraged me to do it either... I just had the thought in my head on how amazing it would be to save a life and I had full knowledge that not many people donate or are on the register to donate bone marrow.

I've only taken the first steps and that is getting myself on the Anthony Nolan register and sent off a saliva sample, hoping they may find a match. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that not everybody finds a match. It could take weeks, months, years, or never to ever find someone that you can save.

I haven't experienced what it is like to donate bone marrow and so I'm hoping that this will come around soon so that you can all hear from someone you know that it isn't as bad as people think it is. I've done so much research into donating bone marrow and it doesn't seem to have the pain crippling effect that everyone seems to think it does.

The first steps are very simple. You sign up onto the register, giving them all your details and your weight (I've always been underweight, which is why only now have I been able to sign up) and then they send out a pack for you to collect a saliva sample. It looks complicated at first, but the pack breaks it down for you super simple. You then send it off and it should take around 6 weeks until you hear back that they have your sample.

Like I said, there is always a chance that you will never find a match, but if you do... Think of how amazing it would feel to say that you saved a life? That if you hadn't done something so simple, someone would have died from such an awful illness. I understand if people don't or even can't do it, so I don't want to sound 'preachy'... But if it is something that has been playing on your mind for a while, then why not?

When (or if) I hopefully find a match, I will be completing this story with a part 2, where I will go into more detail about what you have to do and my experience. Here's hoping I find a match! FINGERS CROSSED.