In my last post I wrote about how my Leukemia had relapsed. At the time the plan was that I would be undergoing an autologous stem cell transplant (a transplant of my own stem cells). After more research and consultation, however, my doctors recommended an allogeneic transplant (from a donor) as the preferred course of treatment with the greatest likelihood of achieving a “durable remission.” My transplant is scheduled for the end of May.
Thinking about the transplant I remembered something I wrote almost a year and half ago, about Canadian Blood Services OneMatch program, which coordinates marrow and stem cell donors in Canada. I made the observation that if I ever did relapse, a stem cell transplant would be the treatment of choice, and that I might have to find myself a stem cell donor.
Well, luckily for me I have a very common HLA type, so it was relatively easy to find an unrelated donor match for my transplant. For many people, however, the search can take much longer or be futile. This might mean a transplant with an imperfectly matched donor, or perhaps being denied the opportunity for a cure.
Given how significant a stem cell donation can be in saving a life, it really isn’t that significant commitment. Of course, as I have mentioned before, I never signed up as a donor, nor did I donate blood, so I am being a little hypocritical now.
But really I am lucky: I have a donor. There are still many others who will be looking for donors, and many who will have trouble finding them. So if you are looking for a way to give back, to give someone hope for a treatment or (hopefully) cure to cancer or other diseases, consider signing up as a stem cell or marrow donor.
And while, at this point, I have no idea who my donor is, let me just say thank you. And thank you to everyone else who has signed up as a donor. Your gift is more important than you can know.
Because of your post here, I’m going to look further into stem cell donation opportunities that I can sign up for. I’m just under 18 and I know that might effect it, but that’s not going to stop me once I become of age next year.
I signed up for “Be the Match”, a bone marrow donation website, but like I mentioned before, I have to wait about 7 months before I can do anything about it.
I’ve never been as charitable as I should have been, but next week I have an appointment to donate blood, and that (along with food and clothing at my school) is all I can do at the moment.
But your story has touched me, and opens my mind to other opportunities. Thank you.
I’m glad to hear that my post encouraged you to look into donation. It sounds like you’re in the same position as me, in that you maybe haven’t done as much as you would like in terms of being charitable. It’s easy to take these things for granted, but it sounds like you’re doing a lot now.
If you’re interested, I’ve have posted some more about donation, and will be posting more over the next few months at http://www.withoutleukemia.ca. That’s where my blog is at now (I didn’t do a very good job of redirecting it
).
Hopefully things go well once you are able to donate. It’s great that you are making the effort you are. It isn’t about “how much” you donate or do, I don’t think, but that you are doing what you can, and it certainly sounds like you are.