help save a life: register to be a bone marrow donor

Another leukemia patient who desperately needs your help... Marissa tells me about her friend Janet, who recently got a medical check-up to receive permission to study abroad in Paris. But after a series of tests, she found herself diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

This fall, instead of visiting the city of lights, Janet checked into the UCLA Medical Center for intensive chemotherapy. She also recently learned that she is at risk of losing her insurance. Ironically, this is because she is no longer meeting the pre-requisite of being a full-time, thirteen-unit college student -- something obviously made impossible by her condition.

Bottom line: finding a bone marrow/stem cell donor is a major key to her recovery. Unfortunately, her sibling was not a match. But maybe you are.

Look, you've heard this story before. Asian American donors in the registry are few and far between. You know this, because I post these facts all the time. Only 532,006 Asian Americans are registered -- not even 5% of the Asian American population!

So I have to ask: how many times will you read and acknowledge these facts, and just keep scrolling on? I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty, but your inaction could be the matter between life and death. I'm not just talking about Janet, but countless others who are dying, and even those who have not yet been diagnosed.

Registering to be a bone marrow donor is easy. It's not dangerous, and you don't need to give a blood sample in order to register. Just swab our cheek with a q-tip. You no longer have to undergo surgery to donate bone marrow. Approximately 75% of stem cell donations are now performed through PBSC, which is similar to donating blood. And with that, you could save a life.

Janet's recovery rests somewhere within the Asian American community, since donor matches are more likely between people of the same ethnic background. But none of that happens unless your register to be a bone marrow donor.

Learn more about donor registrations on behalf of Janet here: Help SAVE Janet Liang - Bone Marrow Donor Drive. You can also follow along with Janet's ongoing treatment on her blog.