It really hit me yesterday because Lee mentioned that he'd be mailing the injections which will start on Saturday and then he emailed me a hotel confirmation number for Tuesday evening. I live about an hour away from the hospital that the donation is taking place at so we'll stay over at a hotel near the hospital so we won't have to get up so early on the morning of.
I sent my recipient a letter in the mail Monday but it has to go through Lee first. He'll get the letter and make sure it doesn't contain any identifying information and then he'll pass it on to her, wherever she is.
I've been thinking about her a lot and thinking about what she's going through as she begins preparation for the transplant. All that I know is that she'll be receiving chemo and/or radiation to basically destroy her immune system so her body can accept my stem cells without rejecting them. The NMDP website has information on what the patient will experience in preparation of receiving the transplant which can be found here: http://marrow.org/Patient/Transplant_Process/The_Preparative_Regimen.aspx
I know I've previously talked about my mother working in an oncology office and spoke of the many patients, that turned into friends, that lost their battle with cancer. When I think about my recipient, I picture her being every single one of those people I once knew. I picture them all getting the second chance at life that they all deserved and the thought warms my heart. I hope I make them proud.
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