friendlyswabber

We sometimes use Tinder to get guys to sign up to the registry. It's a great way to get a captive audience! Also, young guys typically make for the best donors.

We've done some amazing hiking too. Zion National Park, Glacier, Acadia...all incredible places that we've loved.

Thank you so much for your encouragement!

EDIT: We were kind of joking about "using Tinder." We are single gals living on the road, using Tinder to meet people and go on real dates. We talk about what we do and most guys we go on dates with ASK to sign up to the donor registry, which is awesome. And very attractive.

EDIT 2: One of us met our significant other who we have dating for almost 3 months "using Tinder". Hey guys, it works!

Thank you for your questions and for the support!

1) All it takes to register is filling out some basic info about yourself and rubbing the inside of your cheek with a cotton swab for 30 seconds. You can register online and get a cheek swab sent to you in the mail. Here's the link for that: http://www.deletebloodcancer.org/register?source=sharingamericasmarrow

2) I wouldn't say that there are any cons to being a donor. It is really rare to match a patient because it's based on DNA so if you're a match, it usually means you're the one person in the world that can save that person's life! Major pros to being a donor.

3) It's a common misconception that donating is painful. What most people don't know is that 75% of the time, donating is very similar to giving platelets or plasma. 25% of the time, liquid marrow is taken from the back of the pelvic bone using a hollow syringe while the donor is under anesthesia. How you donate depends on the patient's diagnosis and age. Your marrow/stem cells regenerate in a few weeks so you're not giving away anything permanently.

Elle, thank you so much for getting registered! It would be so amazing if you matched somebody. A few thousand Redditers have joined the registry over the past week so we are certain that some matches will come from this awesome community!

I'm really sorry to hear about your best friend. I'm really glad that that stranger donated though, and gave your friend a few more months.

Would you ever want to host your own event? We help people all around the country host swabbing parties or events at their church, school, business. We send you all of the registration supplies and give you a video to watch that shows how to swab people. It's really easy! You could also spread the word on social media! Every bit helps!

I (Sam) was diagnosed with a rare disease called aplastic anemia in 2010 at age 17. I was told that a bone marrow transplant was the only cure. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a matching donor. We are searching for a match for me but also for the thousands of other patients in need of a transplant.

Actually, we really struggle to get anybody to come to the table to sign up because people are so freaked out by bone marrow donation. Living on the road full-time also makes you look a little rough and there are many days that we don't even brush our hair. So that doesn't exactly draw people in, and either do the words "bone marrow registry."