Greatest Gift of All - LIFE. Be The Match.

A couple years ago, shortly after Emme was born, I came across a blog - Blessings, Miracles, and Thoughts in Between - that really touched my heart.

Sweet baby Kate was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder that required a full bone marrow transplant.  Can you imagine what Kate's mom, Lindsey, must have been going through? 

Waiting to find a donor must have been agonizing, and still, she took the opportunity to educate and rally support for her readers to consider being "swabbed" and added to the bone marrow registry.1

Sadly, 6 out of 10 patients never receive the life-saving transplant they need.

Luckily, a match was found for Kate - and today, she's a happy 4.5 year-old big sister, and recently made her first visit to Santa!  (I've heard that a pink bike may be in her future!)

Needless to say, I registered right away.  It was super easy - just a cheek swab.  That was July 17, 2011.

Only 1% of registered donors are ever found to be a match, so I honestly didn't think about it much after that.

Last Friday, I received an email from the donor registry stating that I was a match to specific patient with leukemia. Cue the goosebumps.

What an amazing opportunity. I feel like I've won an extraordinary type of lottery with a much greater prize than money. It's as exciting to me as when I learned I was pregnant.

Can you imagine a patient's relief of getting the call that a match had been found?

Please understand, that I'm not implying that I am special in any way - it just happens that we have matching cell proteins (this is my understanding, but if I'm wrong, please let me know).

I believe that anyone who was physically able to donate would do the same.

If it weren't for Lindsey and her beautiful daughter, Kate, I never would have even known that the bone marrow registry even existed.  Hopefully, one of you might decide to join the registry too.

The more of us who join, the more lives that are saved.

Monday, I will have additional blood tests done to confirm that I am an exact match.  Amy, the coordinator from the registry, explained that the patient will be notified that a potential donor exists at that time.

If I'm a close enough match, my bone marrow will be going to a gentleman who is 62 years old...my dad will be 60 next year.

I'm praying that I'm a match.

take care -