Okay, interesting topic, umbilical cord stem cell/blood banks.
Why would anyone want to save it?
If your baby is healthy, you don’t need it. However, if the blood system has been ravished by disease or by treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy, new stem cells are necessary to rebuild the body’s blood and immune systems. Preserved cord blood stem cells represent a significant new method of rebuilding a person’s blood system. Someday, the umbilical cord stem cells you preserve could be used to give life to someone close to you. Not only are the cord blood stem cells a perfect match for the donor, they could also provide life saving benefits for siblings and other family members
What diseases can it help?
There is a LOOOOONG list, but here are a few:
Stem Cell Disorders
Non-Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma
Hodgkin’s Disease
Inherited Platelet Abnormalities
Inherited Metabolic Disorders
Inherited Immune System Disorders
Plasma Cell Disorders
How much does it cost?
There are a bunch of different fees, but basically it is around $1000 for the storage, with $100 per year for maintenance.
Am I gonna do it?
So once I rented a convertible, parked it, left it for a total of 8 minutes, came back, and it was knifed. Someone had tried to cut into it to get the goods inside (which was nothing but beach towels). Had I paid the $18.99 for the one day I rented it, I could have turned it in, said sorry about your car, and left. I didn’t, and I went through months of hassles and fees and going back and forth with my insurance company.
Now when I rent, I get the insurance, and I have turned in cars damaged (not that I am trying), and they just say, okay, thank you very much.
Now, this is someone else’s car. Insuring my kid? Heck yea! In a heart beat. I have several friends that got lymphoma while they were in their 20s, and a friend of mine’s younger brother just passed from Leukemia. I could never look my kid in the eye and say, sorry honey, I wanted to go on that vacation instead, so now you might not live.
Not even a question.
