“'Love your neighbor as yourself” – Luke 10:27
I just donated bone marrow (or more accurately
stem cells) today at the
NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. I was originally contacted back in November about being a possible bone marrow match for a 66-year old woman with
leukemia. (I signed-up for being in the network back in my undergraduate days at Virginia Tech.) It took a few months, but after several tests and check-ups, it turned out I was a positive match and asked to go ahead. The process has been a tremendously rewarding one and I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to be a part of all of this. I finished the procedure ~ 1 PM this afternoon and if my stem cells are not in the recipients body by now, they should be by early this morning.
The process included 5 days of getting injected with
filgrastim, which causes the body to overproduce stem cells and eject them into the bloodstream. Today they hooked me up to a machine that took blood out of one arm, removed the stem cells, and then pumped it back into my other arm. It took about 4 hours to process everything. After the procedure was done, they packed the “collection” into a cooler and got it underway to a plane for the leukemia patient. It’s likely that she has already undergone the process to receive the cells into her body as I type this. If not, she’ll receive them tomorrow morning at the latest.
As for my part, I was warned that I might have some potential side-effects and discomfort from the injections and procedure, but ended up having no problems whatsoever. The biggest problems I experienced was getting stuck three times before they finally got the IV in my right arm (I think the ladies there were testing me to find out how tough a guy I really was :) ) and then having a VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY full bladder by the end of the process today. (They cheated – I tried not drinking too much prior to the procedure, but they gave me lots of fluids intravenously.) All of this was extremely minor and well worth the discomfort. Lord willing, a life will be saved.
I want to say a very special thanks to Mom and Dad, who were with me the entire time. Just like when I was a kid at the hospital, they stuck by me through it all and spoiled me rotten afterwards. Mom and Dad, I love you both and do not say enough how much you both mean to me and how much I appreciate everything you have done for me.
Also, I want to say thank you to all the ladies at NIH – to Sarah who coordinated everything and to my nurses (Tracy, Sue and Monica) who gave me my shots and took care of me while I was on “the machine”. All of them were great and went overboard making sure I was getting taken care of through the whole process, even coming to my apartment to give me the shots. Thank you to all of you for your care and concern for me and for the work you are doing to try to save the lives of others.
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:16Lastly, I want to say a special thank you to all of my friends and family who have kept me in their thoughts and prayers. I strongly believe the lack of problems I had was caused by the Lord hearing your prayers and watching over me through all of this. He truly is the
Great Shepherd. I love and thank all of you for your concern for me.
Please continue to keep the woman who is receiving my stem cells in your prayers. She’s either now or soon will be getting them transplanted into her system. My part of this process is over and was very easy. She still has a long way to go on the road to a hoped for healing and recovery. I hope to hear about how she is doing in about 30 days or so. If you’d like to know specifically how to pray for her, you can see some of the effects of her
preparation here, the
procedure she’s going through, and
what she can expect afterwards.
If you’d like to learn how to help, the National Bone Marrow Donor program has instructions on how to
join the registry,
contribute financially, and a list of
other ways to help. You can also find out some more info about bone marrow transplants
here.
MORE THOUGHTSBlessings of Modern TechnologyI am truly in awe of the capabilities of modern medical technology. Without recent advances, none of this transplant would have been possible. Not long ago, I would have had to undergo a much riskier procedure to donate, with a large needle getting inserted into my hip to remove bone marrow in order to collect stem cells for donation. A little prior to that, there would have been no hope for a cure for the patient’s leukemia. Prior to that, probably not even a diagnosis of what’s wrong. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to donate in a very painless, relatively risk-free manner with high hopes of significantly impacting the life of another.
I spoke to a friend tonight whose mother recently had a double
lung transplant. I am still in utter awe that things like this are possible. I am excited to see what new technologies will emerge in the future.
Charles Stross summarizes this well when he says:
… if I had been born at any time prior to 1900, my life expectancy, assuming I survived infancy at all, would be 40-45 years -- the latter 20 of which would be rendered miserable by blindness. Between 1900 and 1940 I might have made it to 60. Only the fact that I was born as recently as 1964 has allowed me to live a comparatively normal life.
Read the rest of his thoughts on this. They are very good!
(Hattip to Brad DeLong.)Also, click
here to view a BBC article on how advances in nanotechnology may help with reconstructive brain surgery.
(Hattip to Instapundit.) Who knows what's coming next?
Power of PrayerI am a firm believer in the power of prayer and it is encouraging to see this in action today. I credit my relatively painless and problem-less ordeal to the power of people praying for me. Although I don’t always receive the exactly what I ask for, I genuinely believe the Lord hears and answers all of our prayers. Please pray for the 66-year-old leukemia patient who is receiving my stem cells. I believe this is the most powerful way to help her right now.
Impact of PeopleI find the people who have influenced me the most in life are the ones who have taken time out to live for others. That’s the kind of person I strive to be. As I think to everyone involved with what happened today – from Mom and Dad to Sarah and the nurses, none of this could have happened without any of them. Also think about the doctors, scientists and engineers, patients and donors who have gone before that have endured much worse than I did that allowed doctors to learn better techniques like what they do today. I signed up to be in a long-term continued study in hopes of helping to carry on this legacy.
If I remember correctly, a friend talked me into going in to donate blood when I was an undergrad and while I was there, I signed up to be in the bone marrow donor network. Without the influence of that friend, today might not have ever happened.
EmotionsOther than my bladder almost bursting, today has truly been a joyous day. It is so heartwarming to know that I had the opportunity to make a difference in the life of another person in a real, tangible way – possibly helping to give them the gift of life. I don’t think the full impact of that has hit me yet. I am also in awe to know that it was nothing that I merited, but solely because of the way God made me (literally!) that allowed me to participate in this process. This both humbles and delights me!
I got very choked-up when the doctor came over to talk to me about my donation getting transported to the patient later in the day. As the reality of what was happening hit me, I felt overwhlemed thinking about where this would be going and what it would be doing. I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything.
Glenn Reynolds writes:
