Blood and Bone Marrow

The exit to NYU Medical Center...also happens to be on my favorite running path :)

Greetings everyone!

I'm writing on my day of respite here in nyc; I've worked three nights, had one night off and will commence with another three nights and one day of seminar before leaving for a little (or long...7 days!) vacation home. I was last home about a month and half ago so I am looking forward to catching up with family and friends.

This post will be my public service announcement entitled, "blood and bone marrow." As an oncology and stem cell (bone marrow) transplant nurse, I am constantly exposed to the need for blood and bone marrow donors. It is rare to have a night without a patient receiving some sort of blood product (red blood cells, platelets, plasma). The donated blood is a serious and essential component for sustaining patients' health and life during such an acute illness. I encourage anyone meeting donation requirements to consider giving blood. For more information and to find blood donation locations visit www.redcross.org.

The second component of this post relates to a more invasive form of donation involving the bone marrow. My oncology patients (specifically those with acute leukemias and multiple myeloma) often necessitate a bone marrow transplant to sustain life and overcome illness. Bone marrow can either be transplanted from the patient themselves (autologous transplant) or from an outside donor (allogenic). Similar to blood, bone marrow must be matched before transplant. However, bone marrow goes through a much more rigorous matching process than blood products, this often poses difficulty in finding an appropriate donor. After having a few 'near and dear to me' patients requiring allogenic (from a different person) bone marrow transplants, I am inspired to become a donor. The process involves sending a swab of your cheek (buccal cells) to the National Marrow Donor Program. The buccal cells are tested and logged to be potential donors for people needing a transplant. Since donors must be so closely matched to recipients, often potential donors will not have the opportunity to donate...but it is always worth a try! For more information visit www.marrow.org.

If you are not interested in donating or do not meet requirements, consider volunteering for an organization (you don't have to be a nurse!) or giving a financial donation. Okay, this concludes my public service announcement (I feel like I'm writing a commercial...)

I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend and has a great start of the week! Love to you.

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"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

-Albert Einstein