The News We've Been Waiting For!

WE'VE FOUND A DONOR!!!

Yesterday I got a call from Rachael, my Care Coordinator at the BMT program. She said we found a donor for me. Out of the 27 possible matches in the registry, Rachael requested that the "top six" (however it is that they are classified as being better than the others...) be contacted by the registry and blood samples be requested for testing. As it turns out, five of the six were "unavailable." I think that means that they couldn't be contacted because they had moved, changed phone numbers or died. Either that or when push came to shove they just weren't willing to go down this road. Anyway, one of the six sent in a blood sample and he was a match, as Rachael said, "in every way we wanted." Yay!

Holy cow. I have my donor for my potentially curative allogeneic stem cell transplant. All of a sudden, this next step has become very real. All of the nervousness that had been on the back burner has come to the front. I'm not scared. At least, I don't think that's the appropriate word for how I feel. Noelle put it this way last night: "We have just one shot at this working. It either works or it doesn't." She didn't have to continue to the obvious "And what if it doesn't?" As I've said before, I died on the day I was diagnosed with cancer. Every day since then is a blessing. I don't want to consider the "what if..." question. I can't afford to do so. I have a wife and five young children who need me, and I need them. It's hard to look Heavenward and say, "Thy will be done," while recognizing that God's will might be to take me home. I don't think that's his plan, though. I've had several impressions and thoughts since the end of September which give me the distinct feeling that I'll be around for many years to come. Still, knowing that the GVHD is nearly impossible to avoid does make me a bit nervous. That's probably because one has no idea which of the body's systems (and how many systems and how severely) will be attacked by the graft. Will I be able to go back to work in a year or so, or will it be several years...or never? Some patients' GVHD is so severe that they become permanently disabled and can never return to work. I don't think that will be me.

Rachael told me today that she's aiming for May 6th to be the date I'm admitted to the hospital. I've been told to expect a total of from four to six weeks in the hospital. If I go the full six weeks, I would be discharged around the 17th of June. That's two days before my brother Jeff's birthday, eleven days before my 41st birthday, and ten days before my parents' family reunion begins right here in Taylorsville. The majority of the family will be here. It will be good to see everyone who's healthy, though I won't be able to participate in many - if any - of the activities other than family meals.

Anyway, When I'm back in the hospital, Noelle will need some help with picking up kids from school and things like that so she can maximize the time she can spend with me in the hospital. a couple of her sisters who came out in February and March have offered to help again, as have my mother and Noelle's aunt, Gail. We don't know if May or early June will work for any of them. I think the kids' last day of school is June 6th. Once school is out, we'll definitely need someone(s) with lots of energy and patience to be here with the kids all day long. We worked it out when I was in the hospital before, and I'm sure we can work it out again. And when I say "we," I mean Noelle. =0)

Well, I need to eat lunch and take a nap. More later...