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MARQUETTE -- Becky Mell Parkkonen thinks a lot about her blood these days, regularly checking her red and white blood cells count.

The 32-year-old wife and mother of three put her nursing degree on hold last August when she was diagnosed with leukemia.  Now she needs a bone marrow transplant, within weeks, according to her doctor.

"I hope to find a match," said Becky.  "I really need one.  Yep, my friends are going to come out."

Her Aunt Paulette organized a bone marrow drive, because so far, no one on the National Bone Marrow Registry matches Becky's tissue type.

Click here to sign up on the registry online.

Part of the reason is she has some Native American Heritage, and 85 percent of the eight million people on the registry are Caucasian.

Her oncologist says the transplant needs to happen soon though, because Becky's bone marrow is damaged.

"We are worried that the leukemia will come back in a short time frame," said Dr. Suresh Nukala.  "So we are trying to replace the bone marrow totally with someone else's bone marrow.  That way she will have lasting immunity against the cancer cells."

Becoming a donor only takes minutes.  Joining the registry involves swabbing the cheek with a cotton swab and filling out paperwork.

"You might come up as a match for a complete stranger that also needs a marrow donor," said National Marrow Registry recruiter, Eric Trosko.  "So, you need to ask yourself, before you sign up:  would you be willing to donate to a complete stranger?"

And Becky's family hopes the drive can help others, like Becky, who are struggling to find a match.

The bone marrow donor drive is February 19 and 20; Friday the 19th at UP Front and Company, from 3 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday the 20th, it's from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Westwood Mall, in Marquette Township.

If anyone wants to donate financially, there's an account at River Valley Bank.