My BMT Donor

Since my two-year anniversary from my second bone marrow transplant (July 06), I have been eager to get in contact with my bone marrow donor. Recipients in the US are usually able to connect with their donors at their one-year anniversary (given both parties agree to disclose contact information), but since my donor was International the donation agency that she went through had stricter guidelines. A few weeks ago I contacted the BMT donor coordinator at Stanford in regards to possibly being able to connect with my donor. I was told that they would have to check with the donation agency in her country, because even though it had been two years, there are still frozen cells of hers stored for me (these are from when I was supposed to receive a boost of her cells over a year ago and wasn’t able to due to GVHD).

A few days later I got a call back that they had approved for us to exchange consent forms with our contact information. They sent both her and myself a consent form. I wasn’t sure if she would agree or even if she would know what it was all about. I didn’t hear anything back for a few weeks until this morning. She consented and I now have her contact information. I have her name, address (she lives in Germany), phone number, and email address. It will be very exciting to finally connect with her after this long. I’m hoping she speaks some English otherwise the communication may be a little difficult. Regardless, it’s a very exciting time!

This week has been a tough one. I’ve been battling with the usual daily fevers, which are draining me. Thankfully the bone pain and mouth sores were better with this round of treatment. Wednesday I had to work from home and stayed in bed most of the day due to exhaustion and weakness. I’m definitely looking forward to the weekend to relax, although this will all start again next Wednesday when I go back in for chemo. I just feel like there’s never a break…