This evening,  I found out that my friend's cousin, Tami, a 44-year-old mother of two, has been diagnosed with a bone marrow disorder often called "pre-" leukemia. The treatment requires a stem cell transplant for her best chances at overcoming this deadly and debilitating disease. But it's not the cost of the transfer that might cost Tami her life: it's the lack of matching donors. (Read all of Tami’s story here: http://www.helpingtami.org/)

The best match for finding a bone marrow donor is usually within one's own ethnicity. This one hits close to home for me because of the 7 million registered bone marrow donors available in America, Asian Americans only make up about 7%. Break that down further into individual Asian groups, and your chances of being Asian, *and* finding a bone marrow donor then become pretty slim. On top of that, Asians have the highest turn-down rate of any group when it comes to committing to the donation: 50% back-out at the last minute, even though they are a match that could save someone’s life.  So, this is a call for help to get as many willing Asians onboard the registry as I can. But don't turn away even if you're not Asian (or liv ein America): everyone makes a difference. Tami's case puts a face to the story, but EVERYONE's participation helps -- you'd only be improving someone's chances at survival!

It costs you nothing to register and the test for bone marrow donors is pretty simple: a cotton swab sampling of your cells are all that is needed, and you can even send away for a test kit to do at home. You will only ever be contacted if you are a possible match -- and that could be the call which saves a person's life. Bone marrow donors then have two choices for how their stem sells will be donated: 1) the old-fashioned way is to stick a needle in your bone and pull it out, or 2) there is a new technique in which you are given several injections to cause your body to produce an excess of stem cells, and this is then collected by filtering it out of your blood. (If you've ever donated platelets, it seems similar.)

So please, please help if you can. Sign up for the home test kit, or join in the drive at the Tech Museum in downtown San Jose on April 12^th. Tell your friends, your family, and your coworkers. Post randomly on your blog, or Twitter, or Facebook it. You can also find out a lot more information at my friend Stacy’s website here: http://www.helpingtami.org/

Please consider helping to save a life.