Hi Army, today I want to talk about being a match for Matt. We have had a heartwarming amount of people offer to get tested to be a bone marrow donor for Matts transplant but I wanted to find out more information and share what I learned with all of you. The best match for BMT (one of the hundreds of amazing new acronyms Ive learned) is a sibling match. They have the best chance of containing the right protein markers and immune system matches....and they are only a 25% chance at a match. The chances that anyone in Matts Army would be a match is so unlikely that the lab running the tests will charge $200 to test your DNA against his. Just shy of telling you its a waste of your time. You are, however, absolutely encouraged to register with BeTheMatch.org as a bone marrow donor for anyone. This is where his team of doctors will go next if none of his brothers are matches. There are currently 9.2 million people registered with Be The Match and Matts chances of finding an unrelated donor are good however this process takes time. There is no cost to register with Be The Match but I do believe they mention it takes $100 to process each registration to hint towards a donation. Again, you would be an amazing human being if you registered but it is extremely unlikely that you would be a match for Matt. But please dont be discouraged, you would be part of database helping thousands of people each year and there are still a ton of ways you will still be able to help. I promise Matt and I are getting better and better at asking for and receiving help. When Matt goes into the hospital for his treatment at the end of the summer you will be able to sign up for meals, check off grocery list items, help me with a secret surprise for Matt :) or provide care for Matt while Im away or working. You can always donate to Matts youcaring/mattsarmy site or sign up for my Light The Night Team aptly named Matts Army. Ive been given many a good talking-tos about letting people help us. I have to put my pride aside, admit we cant take this on alone and let people feel as good as I do when I get to help them with something important. For a Type-A girl like me, its not an easy thing to do but I literally feel the load lighten a little bit each time I ask for help. Its incredible to me that so many people are willing to help two crazy love-birds as we walk through this insane journey together. We wouldnt even be this far along without you guys. Thanks in advance for all of you chomping at the bit to help and to those who have already helped us immensely in ways both big and small. This place is amazing. You give me hope. You give me peace. Thank you.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 03:52:08 +0000
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