Part I
On March 2, 2017 I received the following email:
Jeffrey,
You’ve been identified as a possible marrow match for a 61-year-old Male in need of a transplant. The patient’s doctor is trying to determine treatment options as quickly as possible.
Please call me immediately to tell me if you’re willing and able to become a donor.
WHAT?
OH MY GOD!
After discussing with my parents, I called back and agreed to be tested.
What would that entail?
I called back after work on that same day and was questioned for 45 minutes in a very detailed manner on my health, medicines I take, and even my sexual history and where had I traveled to in the past year outside the country. For as sarcastic as I can be, there are times I get quite shy, but surprisingly, this time wasn't one of them. I had nothing to hide, and everything to gain. None of the questions really bothered me.
I guess I passed the first test because I was scheduled for Initial Labwork at Labcorp, to further determine my elgibility as a donor candidate for the patient in question.
I did the initial labwork and then 15 days later, I received the following email:
I’m contacting you from Be the Match. The transplant center confirmed that you and their patient are a match. The patient’s doctors have selected you to be the donor. They are requesting Peripheral Blood Stem Cells. The timeframe they feel would give the transplant the best chance of success is mid-May. Before you could donate, you would have to be physically assessed several weeks before by one of our doctors, to make sure you are healthy enough to undergo the procedure. I would coordinate the physical exam appointment, and collection. There is one Apheresis Center in AZ; I will check with them first to see if they can accommodate a collection Mid – May.
DOUBLE WOW!
Again, through this process I was questioned (the same questions as the first time) two more times - I guess to confirm my answers!
I went through 2 or 3 more sets of labwork with 12 vials of blood taken each time (Talk about sucking Dracula dry), and I had a physical exam and a tour of the facility where the donation procedure will occur as well. The physical exam was for a doctor associated with Be The Match to clear me and ensure I was healthy enough to donate. It was quite clear they were just as concerned with the donor as well as the recipient.
This is really the only part I was nervous about. Throughout the calls and emails, I had expressed my only concern; that my Dad's Health or Chemo schedule might interfere with my donation. They were extremely accommodating and said I just needed to let them know ahead of time,and if my circumstances changed, I was free to remove myself as a donor at any time.
By the time of my physical exam, I had already made the decision and had started making healthier food choice decisions and walking more, although I hadn't returned to the gym yet at this time. Upon my arrival, they took more labwork, weighed me, and took my blood pressure. I was a little worked up because I thought for sure my weight would disqualify me, but no one really mentioned my weight as a factor, much to my surprise. I didn't like the number on the scale, either! But, I figured, at least I was already working towards making that better. My Blood Pressure was high, and it was checked two different times that day, both registering around 140/90. For the most part, as stressed as I can get, my blood pressure generally stays in the "normal" range but, Dad had fallen just a few weeks earlier and was still recovering, and I also attributed this to being in a hospital which is nerve wracking (for me) it itself. Again, to my surprise, no one mentioned the High BP. Of course, seeing a high BP made me even more nervous so i immediately how to lower blood pressure.
I almost had to laugh because it said:
1..spend time in the sun (Vitamin D)
2..exercise
3..watch your diet
All of which I was already doing! Oy Vey!
I did decide that 3 cups of coffee was too much, and cutting coffee out entirely was not an option. So, I decided the cup of coffee I enjoyed the most was the one on the way to work and so that's the one I kept, and after I would switch to water to try and lower the Blood Pressure.
The Doctor came in for a consultation, and we talked for quite a bit about my history and my Father's history with cancer. He was especially concerned with the MDS and the fact I had stated Dad has historic low platelets; He said that was a risk factor for me, because my labwork showed my hemoglobin was slightly low and at this point he could not clear me for the procedure based on that. Of course, that made me even more anxious so again I googled how to increase hemoglobin - Eat bananas and leafy green vegetables like broccoli, it said.
So before, the next 2 sets of bloodwork, in an attempt to increase my hemoglobin numbers, before the labwork, I would eat 2 bananas and one time I even ate a bag of frozen (heated up) broccoli for lunch. Hey, whatever works, right!
I was scheduled for another set of labwork to determine if the low hemoglobin was a fluke or an issue that needed to be investigated further.
Thankfully, two sets of labs later, (I had the last ones done on April 24)..My curiosity was killing me. I was finally cleared to donate and received word on Monday, May 1st, 2017.
"It's a GO. You cleared Friday!"
To be continued in Part III...
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