Hi Friends!
I love to read blogs and today I was reading a favorite of mine. Her name is Jessica Wentz and she is a young mother with cancer. Well, while in the hospital she met a baby named Hanna who has cancer. Now Hanna needs a bone marrow donation and since I had a blood cancer I cannot donate, but many of my healthy friends and family are eligible. SO, please read this letter below that Jessica wrote:
"Hi everybody. I come to you tonight with one of the largest burdens I've ever had on my heart. Little Hanna Holliday, whom I've been updating you on, has just found out that her only sibling, Hailey, is NOT a match for a bone marrow donor. She has a very rare form of Leukemia and a donor stem cell transplant is an absolute neccessity for her. There are not enough bone marrow donors in the National Bone Marrow Registry. People die every day simply because they can't find a bone marrow donor. This is a big commitment, I know. But, I come to you tonight to let you know that I will be hosting a bone marrow drive in Hanna's honor as absolutely soon as I possibly can. I am planning to talk to the National Bone Marrow Registry tomorrow to see if I can get it set up quickly. I am also going to talk to Pastor Ray to see if we can use the Fellowship Hall at our church. It is very large and clean.......it would be perfect. I know that many of you may cringe at the thought of what it might mean to test to be a bone marrow donor. Well, I want to give you a little quick information about it tonight, and I will be getting more detailed info to email you tomorrow. If I am not mistaken, the actual test is just a Q-tip swab of your mouth. However, I could be wrong about that. I will find out first thing tomorrow AM and let you know. But, at most it would be blood work. It would be free to you. (just like donating blood) You would always have the right to say " no" if you happened to be a bone marrow match for someone. You are never pressured to do it. But, I don't think you'd want to say no if you were a match. Because of my sister being a match for me, I CAN tell you what it would be like for you if you did decide to be a donor. First they would do bloodwork to make sure everything checks out with you (safety, no diseases, etc.). Then, when it came time for the recipient's transplant, you would have to have daily shots of a drug called Neupogen, which would boost your white blood cell and stem cell production. You would take these shots for less than a week. The side effects would most likely be moderate bone pain. I have experienced this bone pain and it is tolerable. They pamper their donors, so you would have plenty of pain medicine if it is needed. It is not always needed. Then, when your white blood cell count is high enough, and the recipient is ready for the transplant, they would bring you in for something called "Apheresis". It is where they hook you up to a funny looking machine. They will give you one IV in each arm. In one, the blood runs out into the machine, and the extra stem cells are extracted. In the other IV, your blood is returned to your body. It sounds like a bigger deal than it really is. Let me tell you, it is worth it to save some one's life. They DO NOT do surgery like they used to to obtain the bone marrow. The apheresis procedure is MUCH less complicated, less painful, and is outpatient. I did it 4 times for myself, so I know you could handle it!!! They take it to the lab for testing and then it is sent directly to the recipient to save their life. While, your bone marrow results will be put in the National Bone Marrow Registry, you are NOT forced or begged to become a donor. I am going to host this drive specifically for Hanna, but they will tell you if you are a match for anyone else. And, usually people want to help when they hear the recipient's story of struggle. It is such a small pain to go through to accomplish such a miracle for some one who otherwise has no hope. I will have more info sent out to you all tomorrow. If you could forward this to as many people as you know, and ask them to pass it along, I would greatly appreciate it. Anyone interested is welcome to call me and I'll put your name and number on a list. You can email me, too. As soon as I set up a date and location for the drive, I will pass that information along to you. Please help me save this beautiful little child's life. If I could be her donor, I WOULD, I mean that with all of my heart. But, my bone marrow is not healthy, as I, too, need a bone marrow transplant. I love you all and know her story will touch your heart as it has mine. Please get the word out there. I will be contacting the local newspapers tomorrow, as well as the local News Stations. The more donors that get tested, the better her chances of finding a perfect match. The Lord puts us here to help each other in times likes these..........let's do this. Let's do this together. I really need your help. Please visit Hanna's site at www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannaholliday We can do all things through who strenghtens us!!!!!!!! Let's make a miracle happen for baby Hanna. You'll hear from me tomorrow. I love you all so much.
Jessica Wentz
Go to the National Bone Marrow Registry site at http://www.marrow.org/index.html to learn about their program."
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