Be a lifetime superhero !

Sometimes we choose what things to vivify in our lives and sometimes, things choose to appear and bring us to life.

I've blogged often in the past many years, about my favorite cause - signing up people to the national marrow registry in an attempt to help people suffering from leukemia and worse diseases fight and conquer them.

Seeing your own young sibling battle something like this unsuccessfully at an early age, is an experience which will stick with you for the rest of your life. And so, this cause has chosen me from my childhood (which was a long long long time ago :-) )

This past weekend, in the midst of the usual costumed merriment I managed to stop over at the Asian American Donor Program's charity Halloween event. And I'm so glad I went!

I caught a marrow donor speak about his experience and a survivor talk about her experience.
And listening to these two brought home yet again, how important and critical this cause is.

To hear the young man who was a marrow donor speak about his experience and put the inconvenience and any temporary pain in perspective  by the benefit (a life saved) ought to help allay the fears faced by typical registrants and donors on the mechanics of marrow donation. Quite frankly, most of the time, the procedure does not require invasive techniques and can be managed via peripheral extraction (similar to the process used for blood donation) executed in an out patient procedure.

 On the flip side, to hear a young survivor speak to her experience of how her life was saved by a marrow donor and to hear the full thriving life she leads now, indeed rounds up the story of why this cause is so important.

To put it plainly:

• The need is great. There are 1000s of critically ill leukemia patients awaiting a matched donor in bay area alone. 
• Chances of a marrow match are one in million (unlike blood donations, marrow donation requires HLA typing match which is far more difficult)
• Average potential registrants and donors are scared of the perceived pain. Any donor can share with you their story and put your concerns to rest - just ask them!
• People wonder if marrow donation does work - yes it does. Just ask the survivors!
• You. Yes YOU can be a superhero too. For real. 

Check out http://www.aadp.org

In my spare time, you will often find me working on some fun event to either raise funds for this cause, or register more people to the marrow donor registry. Interested in helping out? Message me. The more the merrier and the more lives we could save!

Written by: Ms. Gitanjali GulveSehgal AKA Ms. Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal AKA Ms. Gigi Sehgal Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Gigi Sehgal a.k.a G G Sehgal a.k.a Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal All rights reserved.