The Gift of Life

As you all probably know, this is a cause close to my heart. After surviving cancer, I have stayed involved with cancer patients and stayed knowledgeable about advancements in treatment.

Please take a few minutes to visit www.marrow.org and read about how you could help save the life of a cancer patient. The Nation Marrow Donor Program is a trust-worthy organization that matches patients with donors from across the country.

If you are pregnant and expecting the miracle of a new life in your family, please consider sharing the miracle of life through cord blood donation.

There are thousands of men, women and children living with cancer or other life threatening blood diseases in our country.

There are some important points to understand concerning this process:

1. The screening involves only a blood test.

2. As a volunteer donor, you are never legally obligated to donate. A late decision not to donate, however, can be life-threatening to a patient and among the most disheartening news a family can ever receive. Consider your decision to be a donor carefully. Thanks.

3. Should you be selected as a potential donor please understand that there have been tremendous advances in "bone marrow transplants" and the term itself can be misleading. At major cancer centers, blood stem cells can, in nearly all instances, be harvested directly from your blood. A donor is simply connected to a machine that separates the needed cells before the donor's blood reenters his/her system. On occasion such cells may have to be harvested directly from your bone marrow. All the necessary precautions are taken to ensure the donor's well-being and safety. In the event yoU're asked to donate blood stem cells, a volunteer will first receive a thorough physical examination—at no cost to him or herself.

The more people that are tested and are on the donor list, the more potential donors available to patients in need. I urge all of you to get tested AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.