I went to the hospital to have the physical done. I got there and got to meet the doctor and she talked to me a little bit about the process. She asked me a lot of questions pertaining to my health and she took a thorough health history. After all of the questions, they drew more blood. They took 9 tubes, 2 of those tubes were going to be sent out and stored for that one consent form that I signed allowing them to do so. They told me that the recipients get so much more blood drawn though... something like 12 tubes. Crazy. I think this was a repeat infectious disease test because they wanted to make sure I didn't contract anything since I had the test done before.
The doctor looked at my veins briefly and then had the apheresis nurse, who would be putting the needles in, take a look as well and they both seemed to think that a line in the femoral vein would be best because I have such small veins. This isn't something I'm really crazy about doing but it will probably be better. On the day of the donation, I'll receive my last shot of filgrastim in the morning, then they have to wait an hour before doing the donation after the injection so between the shot and the wait, a vascular surgeon will insert the line. Like I said, I'm really not crazy about the idea, but it is what it is. At least with this, I won't have needles in my arms.
After the blood was drawn, I got an EKG. It took longer to put the leads on than to do the actual EKG itself so the girl that was putting the leads on chatted with me for a while. I'm guessing she knew I was a donor when she looked at my chart so she started talking about it and said how awesome it was. I can't remember how it came up, but she didn't know that I don't actually know the recipient so when she found this out she thought it was the greatest thing. She kept thanking me for what I was doing and the doctor thanked me as well. I wasn't quite sure how to respond because I'm not doing it to get recognition or thank yous, I'm doing it so this woman can have another chance at life... another chance at having a family, a chance to reconcile relationships, a chance at doing something she always wanted to do but never did... like traveling or learning another language. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do and it's something that I hope someone else would be willing to do for me if I needed it. It was hard to know what to say to that.
Anyway, after the EKG, I went and received a chest x-ray. That didn't take very long either. I was supposed to go and see where I'd be doing the donation but it was already so late in the day by the time I had finished with everything so I didn't get to see it. I figure that I'll be spending a good 6-8 hours there in a few weeks so I'll get a really good look at it then. :p
Once the day was coming to a close, I received a phone call from Lee. He was checking on me to see how the day had gone and how everything else was going. I have to say that they have been so awesome at the NMDP and they have been there every step of the way.
Before I end this tonight, I'm curious how other donors have responded to these thanks and what their reasons for signing up to be a donor were/are. Please share your experiences and responses, I'd really love to hear them!
Hello Aubrey,
ReplyDeleteI was a pbsc donor in September, also to an adult anonymous recipient. He's overseas somewhere so we can never have direct contact. It's weird - some countries allow it if both people want to connect and after a certain period of time - but where my recipient is, it is never allowed. It bums me out a bit because I also may never get an update on how he's doing. I've written him twice, but I'm not sure they'll even let him get anonymous letters. So, without any info to go on, I just have to be satisfied that I did my best to help him with my stem cells and kind of leave it at that. I send prayers out to the universe and think of him frequently, and hope he is still alive, that my stem cells have engrafted and he's regaining his strength back. Like you, I hope he's able to get his life back and maybe even do something he's never done before but always wanted to. Being a parent myself, I think about his family - is he married? have kids? I hope they have their husband/father around for more of their lives too.
I didn't do this for the thank-yous either, although they have been a wonderful by product of this process. I did it because, like you, I felt like I MUST. Not out of guilt or obligation, but out of an appreciation for life. What an incredible opportunity to give someone the hope of a better life and future! I'm the one who feels blessed. There's also something really profound about giving something so intimate - your life's blood - for someone else. The picture you took of your stems cells - I did the same thing. Blood had always grossed me out before, but not anymore. In that little bag held someone's hope. Wow. It's been months for me and my recipient is at Day 85 today and I am STILL so amazed at the whole process.
Thanks for sharing your story and allowing me to share some of mine.
Linda
Linda,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing!! It truly was an amazing experience and I'm so lucky and blessed to have been able to be part of it. It's funny because as grateful as all of the recipients are, I've found that the donors are just as grateful.
I can imagine how frustrating it is to not be able to contact your recipient because I feel that way too. Do you receive any updates at all? I hope you're able to someday meet up with him or at least have some contact with him. You've done an amazing thing and for this I know he and his family are grateful so when you're bummed about not being able to contact him, hold on to the feeling of knowing how grateful they are :)
Take care!
Aubrey
Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of.
ReplyDeleteI say to you, I certainly get annoyed while people think about worries that they just don't know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
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