I'm a 10 year+ survivor of cancer. I was lucky that a great deal of research had been put into my disease. I was also lucky because it was caught really early.

A dear friend of mine has a nephew named Nico who has been fighting acute lymphocytic leukemia for 6 years or half his life. My friend is trying to get the word out to encourage folks to get tested for the bone marrow registry and so I agreed to post a blog post and ask for your help. You see, his options have been dwindling as he's continued to battle the disease leaving him with one option left - a bone marrow transplant. A few minutes of your time and you can be tested by the bone marrow registry to see if you are a match.

So far, no one on the international bone marrow registry is a match for Nico. Would you consider registering and potentially save his life, or another like him? it's quick, and easy to do. Simply log on to http://www.dkmsamericas.org/ or call 1-866-340-3567, They’ll mail you a kit. Swab your cheek and mail it back. Of course, if you can donate $, it would be great to help defray lab costs, but the service is FREE.

Nico's donor match may come from ANY ethnicity but because there are so few Asian/part-Asians registered, if you fit this category, another site also offers the cheek swab kit and online registration for free. You can go to Asian American Donor Program http://www.aadp.org/

Once on the list, the likelihood of being called to donate is low, and because of new technology, donating bone marrow has become similar to giving blood. Studies show no long-term side effects, and only minor short-term discomfort. But it's a serious decision, and, though you can remove your name from the list at anytime, it would be best to stay on it because you could become a candidate to save someone else's life.

If you decide you'd rather be tested ONLY for Nico, please email Chris (Nico's uncle) at harrch511@gmail.com as well as contact Kashi Labs: http://www.bonemarrowtest.com. Kashi does marrow match testing for individuals but this does cost several hundred dollars.

Time is of the essence and the free testing takes 4-6 weeks, so if you are willing to help, please contact one of those sites for a cheek swab kit AS SOON AS YOU CAN.