It’s safe to say that few of us ever spend much time thinking about bone marrow, either ours or anyone else’s. But whether we think of it or not, healthy bone marrow is vital to staying alive. Ira Riklis can tell you that bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones that contains immature cells (stem cells) that produce all of our blood cells. It’s a simple equation: no bone cells mean no blood cells mean no life.
That’s a scary thought for those whose bone marrow has been damaged by disease or as a side effect to treatments for cancer. Fortunately, there is hope for them in the form of a bone marrow transplant. That’s why Ira Riklis long ago registered as a potential bone marrow donor. It’s much harder to match bone marrow than it is to match blood. Those who register as donors have their type taken through a simple cheek swab and then go into a national database. The greater the number of registered donors, the more likely it is that a match can be found for someone in need. And that’s reason enough to put at least a little thought into bone marrow.