Day 20 – Rachana might need your help

Currently Rachana is not scheduled for a bone marrow transplant but it might become necessary at a later stage. We don’t know yet which way this’ll go and how fast it’ll be needed. In the last 2 weeks we were getting her siblings tested to see if they are a potential match. Siblings are the first choice but unfortunately they are not a match. The next step is to search in the National Bone Marrow Registry to see if they can find a match. Usually people of the same ethnicity have a higher possibility of a match and unfortunately there aren’t that many Indians in the US registry.

So, I request you to please register yourself – you could be a match with Rachana and a potential donor. For now all you need to do is

1. Go to https://bethematch.org/ and click the Join button. It’ll take about 20 mins to complete the online process. At the end of the registration you can order the testing kit. I did this myself a few minutes ago.
2. In about 2 weeks you will receive a kit with 4 cotton swabs
3. You run these on the inside of your cheeks and mail it back. Detailed instruction will be emailed with a video link.
4. Send me your nine digit number so I can forward it to Rachana’s doctor

Time is of the essence as this process takes about 30-40 days and we just don’t know when she might need it. Whether you are a match with Rachana or someone else, you will still have a choice to proceed or not.

The above is for people in US. In Canada you can follow instructions on this site https://www.blood.ca/en/stem-cell/donation-process.