Drumroll Please!!!!! 112 Donors Registered!!!

We set out to register 100 Donors in 100 Days...did we do it???
Our final total is........112!!  We did it!  YOU did it!!  Awesome!

Thanks to all who registered and helped to spread the word!  You have made us proud and more importantly, you may have the opportunity to save a life! 

This drive was in honor (and in memory) of our transplant friends and families from floor G-11 at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.  Thank you for your courage and spirit.  We love you.

The Team Jo and Friends Donor Drive is over, but the journey continues for patients in need.  We hope our 112 donors will have the chance to make a difference. 

To register with "Be The Match" go to www.marrow.org


Team captains - Jo Thompson Szymanski (Stem Cell Transplant Survivor) and Carol Morris (Caregiver/Friend)

Only 1 more week in our Donor Drive!

Team Jo and Friend's Donor Drive will end May 28th, 2011.  We currently have 95 donors registered!  We are so close to reaching our goal of 100 Donors in 100 Days.  Please don't wait!  Join our team today!

US Citizens (age 18-60) click here to register with "Be The Match".

Outside US click here to find your registry. 

Team Jo and Friends Needs YOU!

Join the stem cell / bone marrow donor registry today!

US Citizens (age 18-60) click here to register with "Be The Match".

Outside US click here to find your registry. 

Our goal - to register 100 Donors in 100 Days.  We have 79 donors registered and about 3 weeks left in our drive.  Don't wait!! 

Registering on-line takes about 10 minutes.  You are mailed a cheek swab kit and you return it in the mail.  Painless and easy!

If you are found to be a match, in most cases stem cells are collected from the blood stream similar to donating blood and you will have flu like symptoms for a few days.  This method requires no surgery!!

Please share this info with your friends. 

www.teamjoandfriends.blogspot.com

Thanks from your team captains,

Jo Thompson Szymanski (stem cell transplant survivor) and
Carol Morris (caregiver/friend)

Getting Closer to Our Goal!

As of May 3, 2011 we have 68 donors registered!  We only have a little over 3 weeks left to reach our goal of 100 Donors in 100 Days!  Please share today's post with a friend!

Needed:  Stem Cell / Bone Marrow Donors - Age 18 - 60!  Join Team Jo and Friends and give hope to someone looking for a life-saving match!  The process is much easier than you might think!!

Step 1:  Register on-line with "Be the Match" National Marrow Donor Program (or your country's registry) by going to www.teamjoandfriends.blogspot.com  "Joining the Registry" is PAIN-FREE and so EASY!  All it takes is a swab of your cheek!

Step 2:  Your tissue typing takes about 6 weeks. You then receive a congratulatory letter from "Be the Match" (or your country's registry) with your official Bone Marrow Registry donor code.

Step 3:  If your tissue typing matches a patient in need of a stem cell / bone marrow transplant,  you will be contacted by "Be the Match" (or your country's registry).  This could happen next month, next year, 10 years down the road or never.

Step 4:  If you are a match, you will be asked to donate in one of two ways. Most commonly, stem cells are collected from the donor's bloodstream similar to donating blood!  No surgery, no sedation!  The traditional and now less common procedure uses a syringe under sedation to extract liquid bone marrow from the pelvic bone. The level of discomfort is considered to be minor. The reward is you could possibly save a life!

There is no cost to the donor to donate. All costs are covered by the patient's insurance or "Be the Match" (or your country's registry).

Patients all over the world are hoping to find a life saving match.  It could be you!

Don't wait! Register today!

http://www.teamjoandfriends.blogspot.com/


Thank you from your team captains -
Jo Thompson Szymanski (stem cell transplant survivor)
and Carol Morris (caregiver/friend)


P.S.  Please feel free to share this info in any way you feel appropriate - facebook, newsletter, family, friends, etc.  Thanks.



"Triplet Mom and Dad" / registered donors David & BeLynda show how easy the swab test is!



Our First International Donor Registers!

Up until now, all of our team members have come from the US.  (If you live outside the US and have registered, please email us and let us know!!)  Congratulations to Tajali Hall from Calgary, Alberta, Canada for being our first international registered donor!  Tajali is an up and coming star in the line dance community - a wonderful dancer, choreographer and instructor with a heart of gold! 

Here's what Tajali had to say: 

I just wanted to let you know I joined OneMatch (the Canadian Stem Cell and Marrow Network). I started thinking about it more than a month ago but kept hesitating for so many different reasons. But it's funny how God works -- once He put it on my heart, He just never let it go!

The day after I first thought of registering as a donor there was a news story on TV about a 7-year-old little boy here in Calgary, Alberta who has been waiting several years to find a match. Just that day, they had found one for him. A week later, there was another story on the news about another stem cell donor. And two or three days after that, my university announced that it was doing a OneMatch donor drive at school.

It seemed that every time I tried to push it out of my mind, God kept bringing it back to the front. Finally it hit me like a ton of bricks -- I'm so blessed to be living my life to the fullest, and if I can give that opportunity to somebody else, that's a responsibility I have, not a choice I can choose to ignore!

I just wanted to thank you so much for doing the donor drive, and for providing so much information online to help answer questions and alleviate fears about the procedures. This isn't something I ever would have thought of doing if it wasn't for Jo.