Day +364: Selflessness

One year ago today, a 34-year-old woman had bone marrow removed from her body for no other reason than to help save the life of a stranger.  At some point in her life, she heard about signing up as a potential bone marrow donor, and thought it was a good idea for her to do so.  I don’t know her exact reasons, I may never know.  What I *do* know, is that this woman’s markers were an exact 10-point match for mine.  And we became forever linked.

Today, I have spent the better part of 12 hours at the hospital.  It began with going to get my veins assessed by the blood center, to see if I am cleared for photopheresis therapy (more on that in a future post).  Good news, I am.  What this means for me is that I will not have to take the high dose Prednisone steroid to treat my graft vs. host disease.

After the blood center, I walked across to the same day surgery unit for my one year bone marrow biopsy.  This is done for a few reasons; first to check on how well my donor’s marrow has engrafted, second to check the percentage of donor vs. my own marrow, and third, to ensure there is no sign of Leukemia in my body.

What I find particularly surreal and simultaneously comforting, is that my donor and I both went through the same process just one year to the day of eachother.  In a way, I get to celebrate my one year anniversary thinking of her… and her amazing selfless gift.

When I was finished in recovery, I was wheeled up to the oncology infusion center, where I still sit, getting a double dose of IVIG (Intravenous Immune Globulin) infusion to boost my immune system.  Last week, my doctor let me know that my immune system counts had dropped quite significantly.  This means that I will have to be a bit of a hermit again, and stay away from large crowds.  My mask will have to be resurrected as well, for those occasions when I can’t avoid crowds, or am in a place where I might run the risk of exposure to illness(es).

Today really was a great day, even though I’ve been here for almost 8 hours.  I had one of my MOST favorite nurses from when I was an inpatient last year taking care of me, and my husband took time out of his day to sit with me until he had to leave to get the kids from camp.  He even got me Swedish Fish.  🙂  I rounded out the day by getting my next three inoculations, which still hurt as much as I remember as a child, lol!  And I didn’t even get a sticker for getting stuck.  😦

All in all, it is very hard for me to sit here without being thankful.  This time last year, I couldn’t eat because of the chemo and the resulting nausea.  And I was going to sleep as “me” – at least the way I came into the world – for the last time.  I was saddened by that last year.  Funny how tonight I go to sleep appreciating the forever bond I have with a woman I’ve never met, but whose life-blood is now irrevocably intertwined with mine.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Selfless People, Rivers of England