Drives this week for Janet Liang include:

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Thursday, 7pm-10pm, Johnson Center Meeting Room E (Third Floor)
4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA, 22030

GMU Patriots! While the drive on Valentines Day for Janet Liang fell through due to some last minute issues, I will be on campus at George Mason University this Thursday to register donors at a drive coordinated by the GMU Vietnamese Students Association. Please come out to the Johnson Center for a short presentation and swabbing drive! I'll be available to answer any questions you have about the process, as will a friend of mine who recently donated marrow in December.

RSVP to the Facebook event here! http://www.facebook.com/events/257714900970660/

For questions and clarifications regarding what bone marrow registration is, what the registration process is like and if donating marrow hurts, please click through the rest of the content on cheekswab.org. If your question isn't answered anywhere here, please contact me

CHESTERBROOK TAIWANESE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Friday (10pm) and Sunday (1pm)
2036 Westmoreland Street, Falls Church, VA, 22033

I'll also be running another drive at Chesterbrook Taiwanese Presbyterian Church on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, both in honor of Janet Liang. To any CTPC members, please look over the material on this site and let me know if you have any questions!

For more information on the CTPC drive, view their announcement here.

ODPC Drive Volunteers

The bone marrow drive at Open Door Presbyterian Church on Sunday was an amazing display of generosity by not only the ODPC congregation but the community at large. In addition to the incredible response of members of ODPC, there were a number of visitors and volunteers at the drive who had heard of Andrew's cause via social media or the Internet and decided to come out to the drive to help or join the registry.

Joining Andrew's Army at ODPC

The amazing part about this drive was how invested ODPC was in the drive's promotion and success. Often times at churches marrow drives can become something of an afterthought or minor bullet on the itinerary. But ODPC, with its over 700 weekly attendees, went above and beyond the call of duty (in a very short 3 week period) to do all that they could to run a successful drive.

Andrew's Family at ODPC

Pastor Dihan and church leadership devoted service time during consecutive weeks for messages from Andrew's aunt Pam, in addition to running a thorough web and print campaign to raise awareness. On drive day over 20 church members arrived early in the morning for training and stayed late into the afternoon to register donors. For a church with such a large scale and variety of programs, I'm almost positive that schedules and events are set months in advance. And yet, despite any potential inconvenience, ODPC was extremely accommodating. Pam, her family, Juliette Williams from the NMDP, the volunteers, and the ODPC leadership all deserve recognition for their hand in the drive's success.

Registering Donors

The final overall count for donors from Sunday came out to 254. It was by far the biggest drive I've ever been involved in, and I have no doubt in my mind that lives will be saved by someone who registered through this drive.

To anyone who joined the registry on Sunday that may be reading this post, I know that it was a difficult decision, and I know you may not know what to expect moving forward. But I promise you that if you do get called, and you do donate, no matter what temporary inconveniences you experience in the end you will never regret that decision. The opportunity to save a life is a gift and not a burden, and you'll remember it for the rest of your life.

Thank you for joining the lottery to save a life.

To keep updated with Andrew Park's health, please remember to visit his father's blog.

254 Completed Swab Kits

A reminder that there will be a bone marrow drive in honor of Andrew Park at Open Door Presbyterian Church (ODPC) in Herndon, VA from 9:45am - 2:00pm this Sunday in the gymnasium of the English Ministry building.

• For directions to ODPC, please click here.
• For more background on Andrew's story, read his father's blog.
• For questions and clarifications regarding what bone marrow registration is, what the registration process is like and if donating marrow hurts, please click through the rest of the content on cheekswab.org. If your question isn't answered anywhere here, please contact me.

Let's find Andrew a match this Sunday!

A reminder that donor drives will be occurring on college campuses throughout Washington DC/VA/MD tomorrow in honor of Janet Liang from 11:00am - 3:00pm.

Notice: George Mason University - Internet registrations only

The drive at George Mason University, due to some last minute logistical complications, will be an Internet-based sign up drive only. However, we have rescheduled the in-person marrow drive portion to be on campus NEXT WEEK, from 7:00pm - 10:00pm on Thursday, 2/23/2012. The extra time provides a greater opportunity for promotion on campus as well as a presentation on drive day and increased facility space. Specifics regarding the location of this drive will be announced shortly, but it will be held in a meeting room on campus.

Schedule of All Drives (11am - 3pm)

Please join the effort to save lives!

View a message from winner of Survivor: Cook Islands and media personality Yul Kwon on the Team Janet East Coast drives:

Schedule of All Drives (11am - 3pm)

Please spread the news on your college campuses!

Financial Donations Needed

It costs the NMDP $100 to process and register a single donor through drives like these. Please consider a financial donation of any size to help offset the costs of donor registration and help save the lives of Janet and people in similar circumstances. 100% of donations will go towards registration costs only. Read why this is important here.

In this post:

• 2/14 On Campus Valentines Day Marrow Drives for Janet Liang
• 2/19 Marrow Drive for Andrew Park at Open Door Presbyterian Church in Herndon, VA
• Other Ways to Help: Offsetting the Costs of Donor Registrations

On Campus Valentines Day Marrow Drives for Janet Liang

The efforts of Team Janet out in California have inspired a group of people here on the East Coast to spread the word about her situation and register as many donors as possible. In a matter of literally weeks, drives have been coordinated by "Team Janet East Coast" in conjunction with the DC Metropolitan APA Marrow Network and the Northeast Region Be the Match Foundation at four area colleges. All drives will be occurring on campus on Valentines Day, Tuesday, February 14 from 11:00am - 3:00pm.

I will be on location at the George Mason drive. Stop by the Johnson Center, swab and join the registry, and say hi!

For more information and updates please visit Team Janet East Coast's Facebook Event, and please spread the word by sharing the event with your friends!

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2/19 Marrow Drive for Andrew Park at Open Door Presbyterian Church in Herndon, VA

Where: Open Door Presbyterian Church (ODPC), 2999 Centreville Road, Herndon, VA 20171
When: After the First (9:45am) and Second (11:45am) services, until roughly 1:30pm depending on drive attendance

I was recently contacted by the aunt of Andrew Park, a 17 year old Korean American male from Illinois who was first diagnosed with cancer in March 2009. After reading through the blog that Andrew's father keeps for both updates and to spread awareness, it's clear that Andrew has been through a lot, especially at such a young age. His trials have included recurring bouts of pancreatitis and gastrointestinal issues, in addition to a cancer diagnosis that has morphed from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) to a type of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) known as Myeloid Proliferative Disease.

Due to the rare and aggressive nature of his disease, the status of Andrew's health is still uncertain. He must first be declared in remission (i.e. there are no detectable cancer cells in his bone marrow) before he can successfully undergo a bone marrow transplant, but doctors have identified the need for a bone marrow donor. Unfortunately Andrew's sister is not a suitable match, and a suitable match has not been located to date in the marrow registry.

With coordination from the NMDP, Andrew's aunt Pam, and members of ODPC, a marrow registration drive will be hosted in Andrew's honor at ODPC on Sunday, February 19, 2012. For ODPC attendees that may have been directed to this site, please read the sections of this site to get a better idea of the need for minority donors, the expectations and commitment for joining the registry, and what to expect on drive day. Also, the question at the top of everyone's mind: does it hurt?

For all other questions and concerns, feel free to contact me before the drive date and I'll be sure to get you an answer/clarification as soon as possible.

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If you're unable to attend any of the drives above and are still interested in helping, please consider a financial donation to the Cheekswab BeTheMatch Foundation Donation Page. These funds will be used exclusively for donor registration costs for local drives, just like those noted on this page. Read more about the need for financial support here.

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Janet Liang is a UCLA graduate student who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in 2009. I don't know her personally, but I linked to her website in the Links and Organizations section of this site because I came across it while looking for other bone marrow initiatives. Through helpingjanet.com, Janet has used her diagnosis to reach out to and educate thousands of people about the need for minority donors. In a matter of two years her outreach has helped to register more than 6,800 bone marrow donors. It's seriously a staggering number. To give a frame of reference, I set the goal for cheekswab at 300 donors this year. I've registered 82 so far.

In the last two days I've received two separate emails about Janet, as recent developments concerning her health have created an outpouring of support across the Internet. I was directed to this blog post that she wrote on December 26, entitled "I'm Dying. Again.":

Last week, I was notified by my hematologist/oncologist that I’ve unfortunately relapsed and will need a bone marrow transplant. And tomorrow (December 26) I will be heading back to the hospital for a month of high-dosage chemotherapy.

I’m writing to ask you as my friends and supporters to be a part of my Helping Janet family. Now more than ever will I really need to count on you for your help. After this intense round of relapse chemotherapy, my oncologist wants to move forward with conditioning chemotherapy and a stem cell/marrow transplant, but not without a perfect match. This is crucial for my survival, and I truly appreciate your support during these difficult times.

When I read it, I freezed up immediately. I felt my heart beat faster and my face begin to flush. She had said the single word that I have completely eliminated from my vocabulary for the last 5 years, no matter the context:

"Relapse."

To those who may not know, there are three unofficial states to being a cancer patient. The first is being sick: the cancer exists in your body and doctors are trying to remove it via chemotherapy, surgery, or other means. The second state is remission, where the treatment you've undergone is effective in that you have no detectable cancer cells in your body. The third is relapse. The cancer has survived, the cancer has potentially become more resistant, and you go back to square one, albeit with an alternative means of treatment in hopes of producing a different result. For blood cancer patients (myself included), that means a bone marrow transplant.

As far as general temperament goes, I'm a pretty even-keel guy. I'm not a very outwardly emotional person; my speech is direct, my humor dry. I've honestly never shared this with anyone, even my own family. But the prospect of relapse terrifies me to the core, more than anything else in the world. I don't show it, but it's always -- always -- in the back of my mind.

The logistics of my post-chemo healthcare is that for 5 years I was scheduled to get regular blood checks at a cancer treatment facility. When I first got out of the hospital they were daily, and then they moved to weekly, and within the first couple years they were monthly. Two years out, they became once every two months. As I'm now in my fifth year, they're once every six months. I have two more ahead of me until I'm declared officially cured.

I've gone to almost every single one of these 30+ blood tests alone. I prefer it that way. And while the rate of relapse becomes significantly lower after the first two years, the 20 minutes of waiting time between my blood draw and the doctor returning with my blood counts is always the same. I wait on the examining table, staring at the ground. Although I do my best to be optimistic, the same thoughts run through my head every time: "Why is it taking so long this time?" "Where did I get that bruise on my hip?" "Did my nose bleed this week?" "Is my throat scratchy?" "Maybe I have been feeling more tired lately." For those 20 minutes I'm a hypochondriac. For those 20 minutes I look for reasons why it'd be reasonable for the doctor to tell me it's back.

And every single time, just for a moment, I earnestly prepare myself for the worst. I tell myself that it'll be okay. I tell myself that I've done it once so I can do it again. It's a farce of a defense mechanism. And so far, every single time, I've been greeted by the smiling face of my wonderful doctor, Dr. Patel. "Counts look great!" she says.

I have been lucky, by no merit of my own.

Cancer is the lottery. You don't deserve it, you don't earn it, it just happens. And there's something about that inevitability that breeds optimism. It's like, because it's more or less out of your hands, the only choice you have is to press on. So you fight, and you deal with the side effects, loneliness and unknowns and you take it day by day. But the thing that keeps you going is that one day, if you deal with the garbage, it will all be over. Medicine will work. Life will return to normal.

That is, until you go back to the doctors office, on a typical Wednesday, and you have another vial of blood drawn like you always do. You wait for the counts to come back like you always do. The thoughts course through your head like they always do. You tell yourself you're ready for the worst when you're not, again. And then the worst happens. And you don't know what to do or how to feel.

When I read Janet's blog post, I felt her despair. I felt it instantly, and heavily, and it brought tears to my eyes. The title of her post -- "I'm Dying. Again." -- is indicative of her sadness, her weariness, and the reality of her circumstances. And while she wrote that post in as upbeat a manner as she could, she's posted a video recently to youtube that encapsulates her feelings in an unfiltered and raw way.

I assure you that it takes an unbelievable amount of courage to be this vulnerable with the rest of the world. To allow the world to see you at your weakest, both physically and emotionally. Nobody relishes when their suffering becomes a public spectacle, but Janet's circumstances have transcended a matter of pride into a matter of survival.

The blog post was written a month ago and this video was shot six days ago. Janet's situation has become more dire, and she needs a bone marrow transplant by April. As a Chinese-American, she desperately needs more Chinese-American donors to register. Please consider joining the lottery to help save Janet and others just like her. If you're local, I would love to help you coordinate a drive or get you more information.

Through her website and promotions Janet will save countless lives. Now it's time to save hers.

Janet, if by chance you ever read this, know that people everywhere are working to find you a donor. I've seen your story on both social media and via emails from separate people, so rest assured that awareness is spreading. You've been through worse than I have and turned it into more good than I'll ever do. Thank you for your video and your story, stay strong, press on, and God bless.

"I'm pleading you to please continue to get out to the drives and persuade people to register. Register for marrow, especially if you're a Chinese American. I need you to help me save my life or find that person out there who can save my life."

View from the Swabbing Table

As the first "official" cheekswab drive, there were a lot of unknowns going into Friday. I was told that a reasonable estimate for attendees was in the ballpark of anywhere from 60-80 people, based on previous events of a similar nature. It's always a difficult exercise to make any worthwhile estimates about the number of kits needed for a group of x size because the response can be so variable. For example, the first drive I was ever a part of was coordinated through a different bone marrow organization. The drive was scheduled for a church congregation of 100 people, and the drive organizer was told that for a congregation of 100 people, we'd be lucky to get 10 registrations. For whatever reason, more experience seems to set the level of expectation lower rather than higher.

As I was preparing the drive materials on Thursday night, I had both the 60-80 figure and the 10% figure in my mind. I distinctly remember staring at the forms and kits strewn across my bedroom floor and thinking, "there is no possible way I'll need this many." Despite the numbers and the probabilities, I prepared 100 registration kits. I can't really explain why other than some hope for the best. My realistic upper bound going into the drive was 30-40 registrants, which on its own is a number to be extremely pleased about.

Boy, am I glad I brought those extra kits.

GCF Group -- roughly 110+ attendees

I asked one of the volunteers to make a brief estimate of the size of the group, based on the number of tables set up and the average number of people seated per table. All told, he said it was somewhere around 110 people. It was a massive turnout.

I was given some time to share about bone marrow donation and cheekswab, and I'm incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to talk about the need for donors to a group of that scale. I like speaking to college groups in particular because there's an openness, passion and idealism to college students that is hard to find in groups of older age. If convictions are going to inform and direct the course of the rest of your life, I think a very significant chunk of those convictions are created during the formative years of undergrad.

Swabbing and registering new donors

The registration process itself was pretty hectic, as we only had a group of seven volunteers trying to register and swab upwards of 80 people. But GCF members were very accommodating to the lines and the volunteers I brought with me did a phenomenal job. There's absolutely no possible way I could have registered even a quarter of the same amount of people if the volunteers hadn't been there. Some even took time off from work to be there with me, lending both verbal and drive support the entire day. I consider myself blessed to have such selfless friends.

Volunteers: Jennifer, Dave, Eric, Me, Julianne, Esther, Jisoo

To GCF

After a final count, a total of 79 GCF members entered the lottery to save a life. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, and for your willingness to help others who are facing diseases and circumstances beyond their control. I've dreamed about the first official cheekswab drive for a few years now, and watching it unfold before my eyes was better than anything I had ever imagined. A lack of minority donors is a problem that doesn't have to persist in our lifetimes, and through your generosity you've shown your commitment to a better future. We can absolutely make that difference.

Event details can be found here: UVA Grace Christian Fellowship Bone Marrow Drive

For any GCFers that may be reading this page, I've requested that some brief introductory information be included in the Facebook invite. Remember, to help facilitate filling out the forms, the best way to make sure you have the information is to send yourself an email beforehand (if you have a smartphone). Otherwise, you can write info down on a sheet of paper and bring it with you.

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

There are those people out there, especially in the social media landscape, that are fantastic at self-promotion. Youtube channels, Facebook pages, twitter replies, etc. Unfortunately, given my personality type, I am decidedly not one of those people. But I do see the value in social media, and I think there's a delicate balance between using social media in an unobtrusive yet informative/engaging manner and the world of twitter-bots and Farmville updates. It'll be a work in progress, but I look forward to figuring out how to use social media in the most effective manner possible. Please let me know if cheekswab ever gets to the point where it begins to disrupt that balance.

For those of you coming to this site for the first time, I encourage you to do something along the lines of the following:

• Read the site content. I'm not interested in fooling anybody into joining anything. The commitment required to be a donor is too serious to be accepted under false pretenses. As a prospective donor you have the right to be objectively and honestly informed, and anything to the contrary will ultimately serve to undercut the need for more donors rather than substantiate it.
• Order a swab kit online. If you're not local to VA/DC/MD and don't know of an upcoming drive in your area, the fastest way to join the registry is to order a swab kit directly from the National Marrow Donor Program.
• Consider a financial donation to the NMDP. It costs $100 to register a single person into the bone marrow registry. If you have the means, please consider making a financial donation to help offset some of these costs.
• Host a drive. For VA/MD/DC residents, please consider hosting a drive. I would love to help schedule one with you. I welcome minorities of all ethnicities, but I'd especially welcome the opportunity to engage with any non-East Asian communities. To be honest, I don't have many ties to other minority groups and would love to develop some.
• Spread the word. Please share this site address in whatever capacity makes you comfortable. Awareness is the first step to real, effectual change.

Thanks again for visiting. Please use the contact page to get in touch with me for any reason.

Dan