ranspazzo

I actually got to find out who my donor was after 1 year. She is great! I wrote a very long letter thanking her for saving my life. She was so happy to know that it actually worked. It was great to discuss what each of us had to go through in the process.

That's a great question. I'm not actually a big fan of people calling me brave and strong. I got it a lot when I came back to work and I just took it in stride but it is true. I did what I believe anyone would have done if they were in my situation. I had a daughter that needed her mom and I had a family who would have been devastated if I had passed away. Many of the other cancer survivors I have met through all this felt the same way about the references.

It's hard to really get my point across but I see it as this "strength" and "bravery" is in all of us when we are faced with adversity.

Thanks for the question!

Thank you! That is great that your grandfather runs a support group. I can say from first hand experience that those support groups are very helpful! People tend to forget that the physical part of the cancer treatment is really nothing compared to the mental part of it. I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder that I really didn't know anything about until after this experience.

Also support groups are great for the caretakers of the patients. They do go through a lot.

I was very lucky because I believe it only took about 2 months. There were others at the hospital who have been through many consolidated treatments and were still waiting for a match. Thank you so much for getting registered! It really is a life saver!

The process to receive your bone marrow is really horrible but the actual day I got my bone marrow it was just like getting a blood transfusion.

To get the transplant, I had to go through a week of chemo and full body radiation. Doing this removed my entire immune system. I went through a lot of sickness and fatigue. Then I received my transplant. After I got the transplant, I was in isolation for a month. I was on a special floor at the hospital for transplant patients that was sterilized. I was not allowed to leave my room and people who came to see me had to put like a special suit on and mask. It was very boring. After the month, if your numbers were good, you got to go home. Once you are home, another month of isolation.