You could be someone's cure for cancer!
Join Valhalla in signing up to be part of the National Bone Marrow Registry with DKMS. Stop by on Monday, December 11th between 11AM and 4PM to learn more! All it takes is a swab of your cheek and a quick form to join the international database of potential bone marrow donors! If you are a match, you can give a cancer patient a second chance at life!!!
You can change the odds for patients by adding yourself to the donor database.
Quick Facts:
- The registration process only takes about 4 minutes and involves filling out a registration form and a cheek swab.
- Anyone in good general health between the ages of 18-55 can register.
- There is no charge to register although, it costs DKMS $65 to process each registration form and sample.
- Donations are helpful but NOT required.
- All of our donors are entered into the NMDP database, there is only one database. If you have already registered, there is no need to re-register.
- Of the donors matched, 75-80% are asked to donate stem cells which are extracted from the bloodstream, like giving platelets.
- Children under the age of 3 typically need actual bone marrow. In these cases the donor is given anesthesia and undergoes a short procedure to remove marrow from the back of the pelvic bone (20-25% of donors go through this collection method.) The soreness is temporary and goes away within a matter of days, but the feeling of saving a life is permanent.