Dr. Jesse Grady, a Clinical Instructor at
MSU-CVM, has recently been selected to be a donor for an organization called Be
The Match. This is a donor organization that offers hope to patients with blood
cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell anemia or other
life-threatening diseases. By joining the Be The Match Registry, an individual volunteers
to be a potential blood stem cell or bone marrow donor. It also means that if
selected, the individual would be ready to save a patient in need of a
transplant. Grady
generously wanted to contribute to the organization and was miraculously
matched with a patient in need.
“I’m a big supporter of Be The Match,
and I will likely be donating bone marrow through them within the next 60
days,” Grady said. “I matched with a patient in need two months ago and am now
moving on to medical screening.”
One way to get
involved with Be The Match is to first register online at their website https://bethematch.org/.
Here, a series of questions will be asked about one’s medical history to see if
each individual meets the basic criteria for donating. Next, a cheek swab kit will
be sent in the mail. This is so the organization can obtain a sample of one’s
DNA, and after swabbing the inner side of the cheek, the individual will send
it back to them. Afterward, depending on the genetic complexity of matching
donors to patients, it could be weeks, months or even years before any
individual is contacted about a potential match.
Grady touched
on his own particular story detailing on how long it has taken to be contacted
and what he hopes to get out of the process.
“After I
created my account and passed the screening questions, I received an envelope
containing cheek swabs from Be The Match, swabbed my cheeks, and sent them
back,” Grady said. “Ever since then I’ve simply waited for the past 6 years.”
By donating, the individual is
representing a patient’s best possible genetic match and perhaps their only
hope for a cure. If contacted, all that is left to do is to donate to a person
in need and hopefully save a life.
“I
hope to help better promote Be The Match around campus and show that doctors
from MSU-CVM don’t just care for animals, but people as well; albeit in a
unique way in this instance,” said Grady.
