Dear Donors
Where do I begin? What do I say? What do I do? I remember when when Nadia’s medical team talked about the timeline leading up to transplant then the timeline for post transplant. There were all of these countdowns and count ups. Day 0 is transplant day, Day +15 is usually when you start to see blood counts move, day +30 we check to see if the donor cells are the ones that are doing all the work, day +100 you might be able to go back home. Then 1 year post transplant you can start getting immunizations again, etc etc up to the coveted 5 year post-transplant. I never thought we would get here. 5 years seemed so far, and there was so much that could go wrong between Day 0 and Year 5. Donor rejection, slow engraftment, and the dreaded GVHD (this one still haunts me). Somehow your cells were a perfect fit for Nadia even if on genetic paper they weren’t. They took their time at first, but once they came in, they took off like a rocket and haven’t slowed Nadia down.
I have daydreamed since the day Nadia had her stem cell transplant about what WOULD I say if I ever had the chance to meet you. And after 5 years I still have no words. I usually find myself doing the ugly cry and using my sleeve as a Kleenex when I try and put into words what you have done for Nadia.
First you gave Nadia a chance. Because of Nadia’s mixed background you were the closest thing to that coveted perfect match that everyone in Nadia’s position prays for. Thank-you
Second, you gave her life. You and the 22 blood donors that donated selflessly to save a stranger, a little girl. You kept her going during those 40+ days in isolation in hospital. You are the reason she is here. Thank-you
Third, you allowed Nadia to continue to have a childhood. Nadia has been able run and play, learn to ride a bike, swim, do back flips, downhill skiing and just be a kid. Thank-you
Fourth, you let our family continue to be a family. You allowed us to be parents to this special girl that has a heart so big and full. You let us continue to love her, guide her, and teach her. Mostly you let her teach us how to be patient, to be car- free and that its ok to make mistakes. You gave us morning snuggle buggles, story time, UNO games and so much more. Thank-you
Fifth, you gave her the opportunity to be a big sister. When Nadia was diagnosed, having more kids were off the table. We needed to focus on Nadia, her health and healing. Deciding to have more kids knowing that Nadia’s health can spiral due to other aspects of this disease was a hard decision. But adding to our family and witnessing Nadia with her brother has been such a wonderful thing. She is an amazing big sister. To see her so interested in her annoying little brother, how gentle, kind, and watchful she is of him. She is also bossy, and at times knows just how to push his little buttons. It’s such a joy to watch. Thank-you
I don’t know if you were told that the cord blood you donated was being used. We probably will never know, but I am sure if we ever did get a chance to meet you I would just hug you, cry and snot all over your shoulder, and through my hyperventilating tears and sobs of gratitude I hope I would be able to squeak out a thank-you.
For anyone coming across this post, who have donated their blood, bone marrow, or cord blood and haven’t had the opportunity to meet their recipient – this post is for you. Thank-you! You let a family like us hit the restart button on a situation that was so overwhelmingly hopeless and gave us hope and so much more.
If you know someone between the ages of 17 and 35 please encourage them to sign up for the bone marrow registry. If you know of anyone who is willing to donate their cord blood for the stem cell registry, please encourage them to sign up at www.blood.ca
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