Some time in the spring of 2020 I heard about the stem cell registry and ordered a cheek swab kit. To be honest, I'm not sure why I did it, and to tell you the truth I thought nothing of it after I had sent my sample away in the mail, knowing that the likelihood I was ever called was slim to none. Imagine my surprise when my phone rang at 6:30 am less than a month later, with a voice on the other end saying " Hi, this is Canadian Blood Services calling, you're a potential match to a stem cell recipient".
Fast forward about 40 days and many, many blood tests later and I was sitting in a pre-op holding area at the BC Cancer Agency in a funky looking blue hospital gown and matching green socks (the socks were pretty cool actually).
I donated stem cells the old fashioned way, with two surgeons essentially drilling into my pelvis to put it bluntly. I learned afterwards that the actual process is fascinating, and if you're not squeamish and want to learn something cool, go look it up! I still remember waking up in the recovery room afterward, and the only memory I can dredge up from before the medications wore off was feeling very cold, then immediately warmer than I had ever been once the nurses covered me with a Bair Hugger.
The recovery was long for me, and although it took several weeks for me to start feeling normal, I hoped it was worth it. I won't lie to anyone reading this and say its a walk in the park to give someone your bone marrow, but if its important to you, it's worth it. I waited patiently for the 6 month mark for a recipient update, and I will admit feeling devastated when I learned that my recipient's local center doesn't provide updates.
But about a year after my donation I received a single piece of paper in the mail unexpectedly, and on it was one line of text that to this day hangs on my wall.
"I thank you for taking the time to help me heal from my illness".
All I could think was "You made it, thank God you made it". And to me, If I helped them get even one more day with their loved ones, that's more than enough.
