Maykin Use of Time

Organizing bone marrow drives have become a full time job for me. I am fully absorbed in the process and I have to remind myself daily that there are other things I should be doing i.e. eating regularly, drinking water, taking my medicine, meditating, etc. Setting up drives have become a bit of an addiction. Once you complete a drive, there are always so many other people and groups you can contact to get another one going. This is extremely motivating and exciting to me, but also overwhelming at the same time. Unlike a project at work that has a completion date, the work for bone marrow drives never ends. However, my good friend Linh recently reminded me that all of these drives are happening because of me. This makes me motivated to dedicate my time to make them happen. Plus seeing other people work on the drives also inspires me to do more.

This past weekend we got 23 people to register at CaliToday. The drive in Houston was a great success too with 105 people registered. Thank you so much Chu Nam and Dr. Julie Nguyen for hosting these drives. I am happy to report that our new total is 825 people registered!

At the CaliToday drive, there were many senior citizens that came to register. Unfortunately, they did not meet the age requirements (18-60), but I was very touched that many of them walked or took the bus to get to the drive. This cute grandma in particular initially told us she was 59, but we looked at her driver's license and it said she was well over 70. She tried repeatedly to persuade Carol, the AADP Executive Director, to let her register. She said that she was confident that she was my match. She said even though she was over the age limit she was completely ready and willing to sacrifice her marrow. She refused to take no for an answer, but we eventually had to turn her away for her own safety. I was very touched by this lady and I wish that we will meet more selfless people like her at our drives (within the age limit).

People have been asking me what else they can do if they have already or can't register. Here's a short list of ideas:
1. Spread the word to your family and friends and encourage them to register.
2. Help organize a bone marrow drive.
3. Volunteer at a bone marrow drive .
4. Volunteer at AADP. This small team of people work day and night to help patients like me find marrow matches. They are always open to a helping hand whether it's fundraising, making test kits, etc.
5. Fundraise for a cause. A few off the top of my head are: AADP, NMDP, LLS, CLLF, etc.