Meet Lisa….my life saving bone marrow donor!

 

Meet Lisa….my life saving bone marrow donor!

Three years have passed since my bone marrow transplant to cure  MDS and I would like to share one last blog with some exciting news!  A few months ago I had the privilege of meeting Lisa, my life saving bone marrow donor.

Lisa is from Germany, is 28 years old and is a nurse who works in the trauma surgery department. She joined the registry some time ago and when she got the call that she might be needed, she did not hesitate to roll up her sleeves and help.  She was willing to do all that was medically necessary to help save my life.  Lisa had to have many medical tests and take quite a few injections to prepare her body to give the marrow.  It cost her time and made her tired, but she was committed.  Then, about April 4, 2018, her marrow was harvested.  The next step involved a courier getting on a plane with it in Germany and rushing it to Canada as fast as possible because after 72 hours, it can no longer be used. The timing was very critical and the courier had to be brave and determined not to stop for anything.  We did not know at this point where the marrow was coming from but were praying fervently it would make it to the hospital without interruption. At this point I had had so much chemo that there was no turning back, no other option.  But the Lord answered our prayers and on April 6, in the very early hours of the morning, the marrow was infused into me.

The previous posts on this blog give some more details as to how it went for me after the transplant if you are interested, but for now I would like to focus on thanking Lisa and praising God , together with my family,  for giving me healing.  We are enjoying our growing family and have been blessed with a second grandson, Eli, son of Vanessa & Tyler.  As per Canadian blood services regulations, Lisa and I had to wait until after the two- year mark to meet but I am so thankful we have.  Lisa did not know who her marrow went to, and I had no idea who it came from.  When I opened the envelope with her photos in it I thought, she’s so young, she could be one of my kids…..and… what a beautiful person! We hope to meet someday when we can travel again!

I have been able to express to Lisa my gratitude, along with our trust in God, how He worked all this out from the beginning, none of this was a surprise to Him.  The transplant procedure has been a living picture to me of how much we all need Jesus, deep into our souls, healing us from sin, with His shed blood for our salvation.  It is wonderful to commemorate another milestone as we celebrate Easter and Jesus’ resurrection. 

I will share again the urgent need for donors, not just for stem cells or marrow, but also blood, plasma and platelets.  This kept me alive while I was waiting for my transplant.         

   Simply search    blood.ca    all the info is there.