Did you know November is bone marrow awareness month? There are
18,000 people in the United States waiting for a bone marrow
transplant. With less than 2 percent of the country on the bone
marrow registry, it has never been more important to consider
being a donor. Each year, 3,000 people die while waiting for a
bone marrow match. Such was the case of a Bangor woman, who had
cancer of the white blood cells in her bone marrow, who died
while waiting to be matched with a donor. On Oct. 14, a bone
marrow drive was held at the Bangor YMCA in her honor. Deutsche
Knochemarkspenderdatei (DKMS), meaning Bone Marrow Donor Center,
is the largest national registry. It was initially founded in
Germany and has been used ever since to provide healthy bone
marrow to patients with bone cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma
and multiple myeloma. Despite the mass amounts of people
registered, many are still unable to find their complete genetic
match in order to receive a donation. Race and ancestry form
each person’s genetic ma