My 8th re-birthday and Friday the 13th, May 2005

The nurse says: “your cells are here”…it was this nurse – I wish I can recall her name because she was awesome and fun and made me less nervous. The bag of stem cells was being hooked into the mass of tubes that were attached to me now and making their journey in an attempt to save my life.  As I watched them creep through the tube towards my Hickman catheter I was terrified, almost afraid to breathe…what if it hurts, what if it doesn’t work, what if I go through all this and still die, what if I don’t get to see my (then 4yo) son again? A thousand what ifs had gone through my mind as I watched the infusion start!

However, all of these thoughts and all of my fears were pointless because though I’d like to say that I was brave, that I perhaps had other choices I could make, I was not and did not.  This HAD to work - I was given approximately a year to live and then bucket loads of chemo to essentially “kill off” the old me and replace the diseased and dying cells with healthy ones…all while the doctors hit the reset button and, as I secretly suspected (which is not really all that funny – more dark than anything), had their fingers crossed behind their backs.  Then the waiting game…my journey into the unknown had begun!  The infusion ended at 3am on Friday the 13^th of May 2005 which became my day zero (a re-birthday for those who have been transplanted). 

Fast forward to today, May 13, 2013! It’s been eight years from that scary and hopeful day and though I can say I will likely never understand all the science involved in making it work, I definitely can say that no, the infusion itself DOES NOT HURT, that it did indeed work (a million thanks to my awesome bone marrow donor, Laurie Yankie for giving the gift of life to a complete stranger) and that my son is going to be 13 this year! WooHoo! I am considered both “cured” and my transplant a complete success…

I met a lot of people at transplant who did not make it and my heartfelt prayers go out to those families. I know human bodies get tired and your loved ones fought so hard! To those still fighting (and I know many) I offer my never ending love and support and want you to fight dirty! Kick, scream, and spit – kick its ass!

For others who may be reading (please share with your friends) would you consider becoming a blood or marrow donor? I am living proof of your gifts! Go to www.marrow.org or www.bethematch.org to get registerd on the National Marrow Donor Registry (NMDR).

More to come!