Oh my gosh. How did I not know one could register--AND TEST--to be a bone marrow donor from the comfort of our own homes?! Check it out: Be the Match
I just found out about this last night after my husband read Seth Godin's tweet and blog about his friend Amit Gupta's recent diagnosis of acute leukemia, and subsequent need for a bone marrow transplant. It turns out we can just fill out a short questionnaire to join the National Marrow Donor Program registry, and Be the Match will mail us cheek swabbing kits. We can just follow the swabbing instructions and mail it back. Easy-peasy! How did I not know about this before?!
YOU GUYS. It was so easy! We both signed up last night. I'll post an update when we get our kits. It's free! It comes to you! You could help save a life!
If you live in the United States or Puerto Rico and don't sign up after finding out how easy it is (assuming you meet health requirements and whatnot of course), there is something wrong with you. You can help make a sick person well. And anyone who has had a sick loved one knows that saving that person doesn't just change one life. You can change the lives of a whole network of people. DO IT.
For people outside of the US, here is a list of international donor centers.