If you are in Retro Fitness for your daily workout or in the area, take a few minutes to save a life.
Shira Klein, a Marlboro mother of three, has been battling Hodgkins Lymphoma since 2010. After several relapses after treatment, Klein is now looking for her stem cell donor as she undergoes another round of chemotherapy.
In late September, Klein's family created Smiles4Shira, a non-profit organization designed to help Shira and so many others find a stem cell match. Since October, over 6,000 people have been swabbed in honor of Klein.
On Nov. 26 and 27, Retro Fitness locations across the east coast are looking to help. Show up between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Freehold Retro location, and you can register to save a life.
All it takes is a swab of the cheek, and you'll be in the national registry until you are in your 60's.
What it means to be a donor:
Becoming a registered bone marrow or stem cell transplant donor is easy, and the donation process is not as painful as many believe, according to National Marrow Donor Program.
The most common way to donate is through a procedure called Peripheral Blood Cell Donation, which means the donor does not undergo surgery but instead receives injections over just a few days.
The injections, according to National Marrow Donor Program, increases healthy cell production. The donation is performed much like a transfusion, a simple procedure of sitting down and donating blood.
While PBCD is common today, many people are familiar with marrow donation, where marrow is extracted from the hip bone of a donor, a procedure that has vastly improved over the years.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program, donors are anesthetized and marrow is removed from the pelvic area. Recovery times feels sore and stiff, similar to the feeling of a pulled muscle or bruise.
