Step One: Send Emails, Obtain Information

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Note: These process posts will likely be short and blurb-y — more of a means for me to chronicle what I’ve done and need to do than express anything extensive. Someday they could serve as a valuable resource for other people who may be interested in pursuing causes of their own. That’d be cool.

Previous web searches I’ve done have shown that there are a ton of resources available on the web for obtaining information regarding bone marrow donation, including the extremely awesome http://www.marrow.org. Marrow.org is the website of “Be the Match,” which is the National Bone Marrow Registry. What interests me specifically is their “Grow the Registry” page, where people/organizations can request information kits to host bone marrow drives of their own.

Other sites include http://www.swabacheek.org (which despite the resemblance in name, I swear I did not steal), http://www.asianmarrow.org, and the Asian American Donor Program at http://www.aadp.org.

I want to be able to develop contacts at these types of organizations in the hope of answering questions specific to:

  • Data and statistics about bone marrow as a need — incidence, ethnic breakdowns, etc.;
  • The logistics of bone marrow donation, as the host of a drive;
  • The process of bone marrow donation, as a donor;
  • The process of bone marrow donation, as a recipient;
  • The risks associated with bone marrow donation;
  • The costs associated with bone marrow donation for people of Asian descent;
  • Insights or advice;
  • Prospective contacts;
  • Other ideas as they arise.

My ultimate goal is to fully develop http://www.cheekswab.org, which currently lies in the same dormant state it’s been in since I bought it several years ago. An issue I’ve found with a lot of sites that explain an issue as complex as bone marrow donation is that their presentation of information can be a bit unclear. I want to make a site that allows prospective donors, donors, recipients and others to know exactly what they’re getting into. No sugar-coating, no under-emphasis of the nature of the actual bone marrow donation procedures, no glazing over of statistics and data to express a specific perspective. Being a nerd by nature, I love the impartiality and revealing nature of data. I’m confident that the data will stand on its own and that the need for donors will speak for itself. My goal is not to deceive or manipulate anyone into becoming a donor. I want people to develop their own conviction that becoming a donor is right for them.

Fortunately I currently work as a web developer, so I can handle the technical development of the site on my own. Unfortunately I have the aesthetic instincts of a gorilla, so I may need to consult the talents of some friends or pay for a design. But I think that’s a worthwhile expense. Regardless, the key to the site will be content, content, content.

This post was significantly longer than I expected it to be, but I think that’s to be expected with these initial posts as I still continue to hash out this idea. I’ll be posting under various “tags” — “Mission” will explain the motives/philosophy behind cheekswab, whereas “Process” will chronicle the steps I’m taking to get to where I’m going. Future tags will be explained as they appear.

Anyway, the goal for today: send those emails.

The Starting Line

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Today is the first day in what I hope to be the start of something that I’ve thought about since December 2006. At this point I don’t know what will become of this idea; this dream I’ve held in my mind but for one reason or another haven’t had the time/resources to begin until now. My hope and prayer for the creation of this blog is that it will finally help to keep me accountable to following through with something that I think could really make a meaningful difference in the lives of others. This is bigger than me, my sickness and my experiences. This is bigger than the fact that one random Korean college kid was diagnosed with leukemia in December of 2006. This is a coalescence of not just the terror and helplessness of cancer and illness, but a lifetime of relationships, instruction, experiences, and convictions that have molded me into the person I am today. This is me answering a calling and taking a step out in faith that we can find reasons to press on in the face of devastation, that people are by nature full of empathy and love, and that with effort and dedication we can all make a legitimate contribution in remedying some of the world’s most daunting and seemingly insurmountable problems — even cancer.

Maybe this is why I’m still alive. It freaks me out to think about it in terms as stark as those, and at a glance it sounds incredibly dramatic, but when I think about it it really doesn’t sound that crazy. Maybe this is why I live.

I don’t know what this will become. I have no illusions of grandeur; I don’t seek notoriety or fame or care to use this as a stepping stone to other things. It’s too important for all of those ideas. This is the difference between life and death, hope and despair. I’ve seen the face of my mother at the bedside of her child as he receives chemotherapy in a cancer ward, and looked into the eyes of friends as they heard my diagnosis for the first time. I cannot and will not ever forget these things, and they’re why I have to follow through with this. I have to.

I’m not worried about scalar achievements — whether people choose to register or not and whether people are selected to be donors is out of my control. I will define “success” with one metric only: did I give it my best shot? Did I conquer my hesitations, did I persevere through the setbacks, and did I legitimately do everything that was reasonably within my power to raise awareness for and provide access to bone marrow registration? If I can earnestly say “yes,” then Cheekswab will be a success in my book.

I hope to chronicle my experiences here in this blog, both good and bad. I make no claims to have any experience or knowledge in developing an idea like this, so I make no promises that things will always be pretty. But I do promise that things will always be honest. The subject matter is just too important not to be honest.

Daniel Na
May 2011