Bone Marrow for Bess

 

  

Stephen Bess is a life-long RC enthusiast that jumped into the RC biz in the late 90's as an author for Car Action and RC Nitro Magazines. He's since been on the staff of most major RC publications, coming full circle to head the team at Car Action Magazine most recently. Many of us know Stephen through his personal and professional RC pursuits because he's been ever-present in that regard for the last 15 years or so. But, regardless of the circumstances that led to the crossing of our paths, Stephen's sincerity, sometimes brutal but light-hearted honestly, quick wit, and his magnetic personality (remember, magnets repel other magnets half the time), are some of the many reasons that most of us consider him one those good, personal friends that you can count on one hand over a lifetime.

The purpose for this page is a less humorous one - Stephen was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. It's a cancer that is carried in the blood, and its particularly aggressive. While it appears that it was diagnosed as early as possible, it's still a considerable threat to his health and it's difficult to beat. Part of what makes Leukemia such a tough disease is the bone marrow (forgive any technical errors as I'm not a medical expert) generates the white blood cells which fight disease, and this is where the affected cells are created. While Stephen has been treated with the typical chemotherapy (his new "Mr. Clean" look is rather dashing), there's a strong possibility that he may need to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

The difficulty in performing a bone marrow transplant in Stephen's case is, he doesn't have a paternal sibling (we can give thanks for that later for other reasons...). A paternal sibling would have the appropriate DNA characteristics needed to perform a successful transplant. This makes the likelihood of finding an acceptable donor considerably more difficult. This is the purpose of the Bone Marrow Registry linked to this page.

The Bone Marrow Registry website explains a lot of the details, but in short, it simply requires a simple test to narrow down the potential donors. Unfortunately, it's often that none of the donors will provide an acceptable match. This is where you can jump in to help your friend. By registering with the Bone Marrow Registry, you could literally be responsible for saving a life... directly. You may be the only person on the planet that has an acceptable match for Stephen or so many of the other patients affected by Leukemia that are looking for a donor - a proverbial needle in a haystack. The process is much more simple and painless than it used to be in the past, and for Stephen, in spite of what my humor might suggest, I would gladly go through ten times the pain to keep my good friend in good health. If nothing else, we need to keep the "only the good die young" forces of the universe intact, because Stephen is an evil bastard. There's no way he should be polluting the heavens at such a young age. He needs to stay down here with the rest of us misfits for decades to come.

So, please check out the Bone Marrow Registry and get on the list. The more people we make aware of this resource, the more we can help people with this insidious disease. It gives hope where there otherwise may not be any. PLEASE, take the time to register and LIKE this page to get the word out!!! 

 

  

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