Be the Match #2: THE CURE FOR CANCER!

How can you avoid clicking on a link claiming it will talk about a cure for cancer? Sure, if you've googled cancer and trolled the internet for information before, you might be worried that I'm going to proselytize about the value of witch-doctor remedies.

"Drink a carton of cannabis oil a day and your cancer will be cured!!"

"What the pharmaceutical companies don't want you to know: As long as you never come into contact with any sort of plastic, you will never get cancer."

"A woman in Portugal ate 17 gallons of juice a day and her stage four cancer was cured"


But regardless, as human beings we will go on hoping that someone will discover a mythical cure for cancer tomorrow. Heck coming from my nutty high school, I can even hope that I'll *know* the genius who finds a way to end this disease.

If building a low frequency radio dipole telescope
could somehow cure cancer, I'd contribute my findings
from senior tech lab!

The fantastic thing about a number of blood disorders (including cancer, MDS, sickle cell) etc etc is that there already IS a cure!  That's right. Let's get out the trumpets and ticker tape and start forming a band!!



Unfortunately that cure is in the form of a bone marrow transplant- meaning it is limited to people who have a perfect match from a sibling. Anyone who is a single child, adopted (yup! That's my mom), or comes from a genetically diverse background that is underrepresented on the registry (particularly Asian, Latino, or African America) is up a creek without a paddle.

I'm lucky to have a brother whose genetic similarity to me is
confirmed by the fact that NEITHER of us can ever open our eyes
wide enough to take a decent picture.

Even worse, patients without a match on the registry KNOW that the paddle they need is out there somewhere. A match exists, it's just a matter of finding that person and asking them for an enormous favor.


What does this mean?

It means that if you add your name to the national bone marrow registry, you could cure someone's cancer!  Your high school biology teacher was *so* wrong about you! You're going places. All of those scientists in research labs can't even come close to the difference you can make by volunteering a few hours of your time.

It means that if you donate to Be the Match at the link below, you can help perfect this cure. You make sure that there are more people registered so a patient can pick a 10 for 10 match. You are giving the gift of stable housing during the most stressful period of someone's life so they can focus on their health. Even giving 5 or 10 dollars is an act of generosity that I promise will make you feel good all day.

http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/site/TR/WalkRun/BetheOneRun?px=2327005&pg=personal&fr_id=2010