This April marks the 15^th year of National Donate Life Month. NDLM serves to raise awareness for organ, eye, and tissue registries, who the registries benefit, and how much a sacrifice can mean for somebody’s life. Generally, cities or towns will hold different events during NDLM to raise awareness throughout the month, so keep an eye out for upcoming events around you. In order to kick off National Donate Life Month, we want to discuss two incredibly important registries and how vital they are for those who are suffering with disease.

Bone Marrow Registry:

People with blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma are reliant on bone marrow transplants to make any sort of recovery. With blood cancers, deformed, dangerous, or ineffective blood cells are produced, and they cause some sort of defect in a patient. Different types of blood cancers affect different sorts of blood cells. A bone marrow transplant irradiates the cells in the infected person, and introduces the bone marrow of a healthy donor into the patient. It is important to recognize that blood cells do not replicate like tissue cells in the human body, but they originate from types of pluripotent stem cells. Donor bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells, which can divide into every type of blood cell, and will repopulate the patient’s irradiated system with new and healthy blood cells, thus erasing the cancer.

Of course, it’s not that easy. To even begin this process, there must be a partial match found in a registry. Then, the irradiation process can lead to huge complications, and something as harmless as the bacteria that lives on your skin can become dangerous when you don’t have any white blood cells to protect you. The bone marrow transplant is also accompanied by immunosuppressant drugs to try and mask the rejection of foreign tissue, which will lead to autoimmune disorders like graft vs. host.

You can take your first step to make a difference this April by visiting bethematch.org. This website is the center for registering for the bone marrow registry. When you register, the organization will send you a swab kit in the mail, which you will swab on your cheek and send back. They then will place you in the registry based on the preliminary information from the kit. If you are found to match with a patient in need, you will be given a blood test to confirm that you are a close match, and then donate blood marrow via a nonsurgical NBSC donation, or via surgical donation through which they remove the marrow from the pelvic bone. Simply signing up for the registry and swabbing yourself ensures somebody struggling with cancer the best chance to survive and beat his or her cancer.

Organ Donor:

Organ registries often take years for names to move up the list. Finding partial matches is taxing, and in many cases the disease will progress too far by the time somebody moves up the registry. Lungs, hearts, kidneys, pancreases and intestines all can be transplanted after death. All it takes to register is to visit your local DMV, or to visit organdoner.gov to find out how to register as a donor in your state.

In 2013, Brazilian tycoon Thane Chiquinho Scarpa made a public statement that he was going to bury his new Bentley so that he could enjoy it in the afterlife. People on social media and via news outlets lost their lids. He was criticized for throwing money around that could help the needy, for wasting a beautiful car, and for being so unbelievably selfish. In reality, it was one of the best-designed publicity stunts the world has ever seen, and it was all designed to raise awareness for organ donations. After the reveal, he stated, “People condemn me because I wanted to bury a million dollar Bentley, (but) in fact most people bury something a lot more valuable than my car. They bury hearts, livers, lungs, eyes, kidneys. This is absurd. So many people waiting for a transplant and you will bury your healthy organs that will save so many lives”.

Donating Blood:

People require blood or need blood transfusions for a number of reasons. Some diseases cause people to need blood, after major accidents like a car accident people need blood if they lose too much of it, and often during surgeries blood transfusions are required. Donating blood can save lives, and there are different types of blood products you can share. You can donate whole blood, just red blood cells, platelets and/or plasma. You can also donate blood products many times each year.

After registering as a blood donor, you will give your health history to see if you meet requirements to be a donor. If you pass, you will make your way to a donor bed where your blood will be drawn. Typically, donors give slightly less than 1 pint of blood. It can take 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the type of blood you are donating. After you give blood, you should replenish with a drink and snack. You will be back to normal after four to five hours.

You should know in advance that you are going to donate blood. The day before you give blood, make sure you really hydrate yourself by drinking a ton of water. The night before the donation, eat salty foods and get a good night of sleep. Make sure you eat a healthy breakfast and continue to drink plenty of water the morning of the blood donation.

There are a number of organizations that help with blood donation, and there are different events and locations you can attend to give blood.