Effective tomorrow, I am the Utah Drive Attendant for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), or Be the Match. I am responsible to work with sponsors of donor recruitment drives throughout Utah to organize and carry out their recruitment and fundraising efforts for Be the Match. For those who don't know or don't remember, Be the Match is the organization that found me my donor, Ambros, last spring. Without Be the Match, I would likely be dead today, or suffering through heavy chemo to simply prolong my life without any quality of life. Unfortunately, there are over 10,000 Americans every year in need of a life-saving marrow or stem cell transplant, and many of them are told that there is no match for them among their family members or on the international registry. Last year I made the commitment to myself that as soon as I could, I would do everything I could to give back to the organization that gave me my donor and the chance at life. As a volunteer, I've already organized and/or run three marrow donor recruitment drives - two of my own, and one for an Eagle Scout project down in Spanish Fork in June. Now the NMDP will pay me to do something I was already willing to do. I'll just end up doing it 20-30 hours a week. That's pretty awesome, if you ask me. I've got a two-day drive scheduled for this coming weekend up in Cache Valley, and 5 or more in August. I've been tasked with developing a team of Volunteer Ambassadors to help me run drives around the state so I don't have to be at every one of them, and so I can function in more of a local administrative role. Even with a full team of Ambassadors qualified to run drives on their own, though, I'll never stop going to drives myself, as they're how donors are found and I love being in that environment.
In other news, my GVH of the skin was, in fact, not GVH of the skin. I have gotten eczema, a skin condition with dry, pinkish blotches in different areas of my body. How I've ended up with eczema at 42 years old when I've never had any skin issues before I'll never know. I'm just glad it's not GVH, so we can continue tapering my immunosuppressant, cyclosporine. I can't be re-immunized until I'm off of that stuff, so tapering it is my #1 priority. Hopefully, I'll be done with it within the next 3 to 4 months. Then I should be able to be out in public without wearing my big white mask everywhere I go. I can go to church for all of my meetings, be more active, and worry less in general. It's good to be close to that point...we hope. =0)
Other news...I got a car. I had to sell my Toyota Corolla last February to help us pay some bills and lower our monthly expenses, so since then we've been a one-car family, which has become increasingly difficult over the past several months as I've been able to get out and do more things. Now that I'll be traveling a bit for work, one car just won't do. Did I get another Corolla, the model I've had for my last two cars, spanning about 10 years? Nope. I got something my big body will be comfortable riding in on long trips. I got a 2012 Chevy Malibu, and I absolutely love it. It's comfortable, got plenty of power, gets good mileage for a mid-size sedan, and has bluetooth for my phone, which I love.
With my new job, I'll be teaching fewer voice students, which kinda stinks, but it's OK. I'm keeping everyone I currently have through the end of August. On August 28th my voice studio will be putting on a recital with solos and duets from all 13 of my students. After that, I'll only be able to teach as many students as I can comfortably teach on Wednesday evenings and Thursdays.
*** ANNOUNCEMENT ***
On Thursday, September 11, 2014 (exactly two years after the shoulder injury that changed and saved my life), my friend, Amanda Van Den Akker and I will be putting on a musical theater recital to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the Light the Night Campaign. While the recital will be free of charge, Amanda and I hope that everyone who comes will make a generous (100% tax-deductible) donation to the organization that funds more Leukemia research than any other in the U.S. They also provide tremendous financial support to Leukemia patients like myself. I will be posting fliers for the recital here and on Facebook soon. If you can come, I promise it will be a rewarding evening for you with great music from throughout the great history of american musical theater and an opportunity to help many leukemia patients in need of assistance. If you can't make it, you can still donate. In either case, please visit my fundraising page, and help me help other Leukemia and Lymphoma patients through this amazing and incredibly important campaign. Here's the information for the recital:
John Philpott and
Amanda Van Den Akker in Concert
Thursday,
September 11, 2014
6:00 p.m.
Summerhays Music
Recital Hall
5420 S Green St, Murray, UT 84123
