Why Robin Roberts wears an arm band

Robin Roberts revealed to the public her battle with a blood and bone marrow disease MDS caused by her successful breast treatment five years ago. She’s undergoing pre-treatments for a future bone marrow transplant, but she’s not giving up her stylish sleeveless dresses! Robin gets the armband that covers up her IV PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line styled to match the pretty dresses she wears to host Good Morning America.

The always cheery news anchor felt quite a blow from this latest diagnosis (which she got the same day she did the interview with Obama where he admitted to being pro-gay marriage,) but now she sees the positive side. Her mother always told her to “turn a mess into a message.” Robin explained “When I received this latest disappointment I did not know what the message would be, and now I do.”

Robin’s public disclose about her diagnosis has actually made a huge impact! The number of registered bone marrow donors has doubled since she announced her struggle, which can save many lives. It’s extremely hard for sick children and adults to find exact bone marrow donor matches to help cure diseases like leukemia, so the bigger the pool of donors to look, the better. Tuesday morning Roberts and her GMA pals asked still more people to please join the registry (all it takes is a swab!)

Thankfully for Robin, her sister Sally-Ann was a perfect match, but there’s only a 35% chance that a sibling will be a perfect match.

There cannot be enough kudos to Roberts for sharing her illness with the world, and helping so many people through her inspirational braveness and informational awareness.