Still Waiting...

I apologize if you've been waiting for an update, I've been waiting for one as well! I had my blood drawn back on July 22nd, I was originally told it could be 3-4 weeks before I heard anything. This morning I finally heard something....keep waiting!


DKMS has not heard back from the patients doctor, this could be for many different reasons one reason may be that the patient is too sick at this time to move forward with the process. The patients doctor has 3 months from the day I had my blood drawn to make a decision. Therefore, I may be waiting to hear all the way through the middle of October. Part of the update I received included this information:

If you are chosen to donate the next steps will be:

            1.         Participate in an information session

            2.         Attend a physical exam at the hospital

            3.         Donate:

 Bone Marrow OR Peripheral Blood Stem Cells

         -Receive daily filgrastim injections 4 days prior to donation. 

         -Only the first injection needs to be in a clinical setting.

These steps typically require a 3-4 weekday commitment.

Needless to say Bill and I aren't making any big plans for the next 2 months. I don't want to have something planned and keep Mr. Cancer Man waiting. If we did have plans all I would have to do is report those to DKMS and they would work around them. I know that if I was the one that was sick, I wouldn't want to have to wait any longer than necessary so I won't do that to someone else.

I was also given a list of restrictions, for the next 2 months I cannot get any new tattoos, piercings, donate blood, use a needle to take drugs not prescribed by a doctor, have sex with someone who is at risk for HIV/AIDS, have close contact with someone who has Hepatitis, and I also have to avoid the possibility of becoming pregnant as I will not be able to donate if I am growing a tiny human. Obviously this list, other than the no tattoos, is a cake walk, I'll just schedule a tattoo appointment for October 23rd :)

The email also asked that I contact them immediately if I suffer a physical injury, am diagnosed with a new medical condition, plan on receiving any vaccinations, other than the flu shot, have any dates that I will be unable to donate, or are unsure on my commitment to donate.

I would still love to donate and move forward in the process but part of me also hopes that Mr. Cancer Man is doing so well that they don't think he'll need a bone marrow transplant. Although this is pretty unlikely considering he has Non Hodgkin Lymphoma. As soon as I hear anything else I'll let you know!

Stay Healthy!

How it All Began

Back in May of 2009 Bill was deployed overseas so I watched alot of TV! One night a story came on about Rihanna, she was heading up a bone marrow donation search for a little girl named Jasmina Anema who was fighting for her life against leukemia. The story brought me to tears and it was right then that I went online to DKMS and signed up to be a bone marrow donor.

A couple weeks later I received a packet in the mail with information and a kit to take a cheek swab and send it back to them. As soon as I could I sent my cheek swab in and honestly didn't think I would ever be contacted. According to DKMS only 1 in 200 people on the registry are ever contacted as a match. Doctors from all over use the DKMS registry to find donors for their patients and unfortunately they do not all find donors. We can change this by getting as many people as we can added to the registry!

Tonight I sat down on the couch, grabbed my computer and checked my email. I saw a message with the subject "Bone Marrow Donor: Important Update" before I even opened it I assumed it was your typical email asking me to update contact info. Boy was I wrong! The email came from a Request Management Coordinator at DKMS in the email she explained that a doctor somewhere believes that I am a match for a leukemia patient and it is imperative that I contact them as soon as possible. At the end of the email it stated "It’s critically important that we hear from you-even if you’re unable to donate" Not Donate?!?!?! I couldn't even imagine saying no to saving someones life! Regardless of how old the patient is, that's someones baby and I couldn't even imagine having to find a donor for my own daughter, of course I'm going to move forward.

As soon as I told Bill what was going on I called her! Of course it was 8pm here and I was calling New York so it was 11pm there, I left a message and returned to the email. In the email the coordinator sent a bunch of information as well as a 12 page questionnaire. It basically covered all of the typical health questions. They wanted to know what medications I was on, hospitalizations, if I've been to Africa, have HIV/AIDS, bleeding problems and any other major health and travel history. I filled out all of the paperwork, scanned it and emailed it back to the coordinator! All I could keep saying to be was "I may really be someones real life super hero!"

To say I'm excited about what this may mean is an understatement! I still have to talk to the coordinator, get some more blood tests done as well as a physical examination to make sure all is good to go but, someone may end up living a long wonderful life because I was a bored military wife one night two years ago!

I thought it would be nice to blog about this whole experience in hopes of letting people know how the process works and getting more people to join the registry. Hopefully I'll have more for you tomorrow!!!