

Thanks HN: That time you saved a bunch of lives - superamit
http://tumblr.amitgupta.com/post/65865424421/why-scott-blaine-is-great

======
superamit
Hacker News was incredibly kind to me two years ago when I was diagnosed with
Leukemia (AML). Many friends' posts made it to the front page here:

\-
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3083770](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3083770)

\-
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3149337](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3149337)

\-
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3297091](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3297091)

After about a hundred days of friends registering & campaigning, chemo,
drives, press appearances, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr posts, I found a
donor:

\-
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3482119](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3482119)

HN played a huge part in making that happen. I want to say thanks not just for
me, but for all the others that gotten helped through our efforts in the past
two years alone.

Reminder: It's easy to register, and easy to save someone:

\- [http://bethematch.org/Support-the-Cause/Donate-bone-
marrow/J...](http://bethematch.org/Support-the-Cause/Donate-bone-marrow/Join-
the-marrow-registry/)

~~~
bglusman
Awesome, be neat to know how many lives were saved this way overall! I also
registered because of you!

I still have this great idea that NBMR/marrow.org should partner with
23andme.com, but I didn't get anywhere trying to contact someone at marrow.org
about it (though I wrote you to ask for your contact there and sent an email,
thanks for quick reply!). Still think it could be awesome and save a ton more
lives (gist of the idea was they both need to run DNA sequencing, and 23andme
could offer a discount or something to anyone who also agrees to register for
marrow donors list), but someone told me the sequencing needs may be different
for each of their needs, and perhaps they already considered the idea
themselves... but in case you know anyone else to talk to about it, would be
awesome to get more people off the sidelines with a small 'bribe' :-)

~~~
superamit
Thanks so much for registering!

Agreed it'd be awesome to get them working together. Anne Wojcicki had reached
out and I had a call with her and a couple other folks at 23andme during my
100 days isolation period after the transplant.

They seemed interested, I'm not sure how far it got. I'm guessing privacy
issues/conflicting priorities got in the way, but I'll drop her a line to see
if they're still thinking about it.

------
abracar
One of the things I learned on HN back when Amit's story first came up was
that many people who register as donors for a specific person end up declining
to make a donation when they get contacted in a different context a few
months/years later, and that's really a shame - so huge kudos to Scott for
going ahead with this after all that time, because that's a crucial part of
the equation.

------
bastawhiz
One more thing gay people aren't allowed to do [unless they're on a serious
dry spell or they're celibate]. :(

~~~
erichurkman
Yeah, that was the first thing I checked for as well. Note that the
restriction is specifically on MSM, not 'gay people'.

There is a growing body of medical groups pushing for a relaxation of the
indefinite deferral period for MSM, including the American Red Cross and
America Blood Centers. The deferral period in some other countries is less
strict, down to a year in the EU.

~~~
nostromo
One year is hardly progress unless it takes in to account people in monogamous
relationships.

------
michaelmior
Note that Canadians should check out OneMatch
[http://www.onematch.ca/](http://www.onematch.ca/)

