Donor

I got a call from one of the BMT coordinators at MDA a few minutes ago. Lori is constantly buried in work, but always has the time to answer questions or look into things for you, which is amazing considering the amount of stuff she has to deal with. When she identified herself on the phone, it didn't immediately click that it was BMT Lori. I immediately started thinking, "Oh hell, the PCR came back fishy." No pun intended--it's also called the FISH test.

She called to let me know that she had my donor's information for me, with the caveat that the donor didn't release any contact information. She has contact information for me if she ever wants to get in touch. I'm just so grateful that she donated and gave me this extra shot at living.

Her name is Dana and she lives in Hawaii. I have a little more information that I'm not posting out of respect for her privacy. I'm most surprised that she's local since Chris and I were convinced that she was from Malaysia or another country close to it. We were working from something a different coordinator let slip eons ago. When you really think about it, Hawaii does make sense. There's such a rich blend of cultures that have intermingled over the centuries and it's not unusual to run into Hapas of all kinds.

We weren't a perfect match on the Human Leukocyte Antigen front, but she was perfect enough to save my life. If she ever googles me and comes across this blog, I just want her to know that she helped facilitate a miracle and I'll be forever grateful for her selflessness. After all, I wouldn't be here writing this if not for her.