This past Labor Day, my wife donated her bone marrow to save the life of someone she has never met and knows nothing about. Through this opening sentence you can probably gather that my wife lives her life with her hands open. My hope is that by sharing this one example it may inspire others to live with hands open as well.
Be the Match is an amazing organization that is dedicated to saving lives. The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), a nonprofit organization, is the global leader in providing bone marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants to patients in need. As Be The Match®, they operate the Be The Match Registry®, the world’s largest listing of potential marrow donors and donated cord blood units and raise funds to help provide transplants to all patients through the Be The Match Foundation®. They also match patients with donors, educate health care professionals and conduct research through our research arm, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research® (CIBMTR), so more lives can be saved.
We started down this path when Lorrie found out that her cousin's daughter was diagnosed with leukemia last year. Lorrie registered with Be the Match in hopes of becoming a match for Cede. Lorrie learned more about the cause and the disease as Cede battled for her life. Before Lorrie was able to complete the registry process, Cede began her journey in heaven.
Our summer started out pretty rough. I unexpectidly lost my job in June. When you have two kids under 4 and you are the sole bread winner, it sets the stage for a stressfull situation. The same week Lorrie went to get a mammogram. A few days later we received a call asking her to come back in for more tests. They had found something. We were scared, but stayed strong and prayed a lot over the next few days. Thankfully, the results came back benign. What an emotional roller coaster and a reality check! It sure did put losing my job into perspective.
The very next week Lorrie received a call that she was a match for someone. Once Lorrie got off the phone we talked about it as a family and immediately decided to pushed ahead without looking back. What an amazing and powerful opportunity that had been dropped in front of her.
We traveled to Birmingham for a weekend of tests to make sure Lorrie's blood was approved for donation. The test came back, she was good to go and was scheduled for surgery a few weeks later.
We had a couple weeks back in Atlanta before the procedure. I remember going for a walk with Lorrie and the kids on a Saturday morning. We were talking about everything and I distinctly remember a feeling that overcame me while we were walking. It was a feeling toward her I have never felt. It was more than feeling proud...not even sure their is a word for it. All I know is that my feelings toward my wife have never been the same. It took our relationship and my love for her to another level. Similar to how you become more connected after you have children, you can't explain it, it just happens.
The process of donating bone marrow is pretty intense, but when you grasp the bigger picture of what you are doing, courage prevails. Lorrie said she would do it again in a heart beat. During this time we were hearing stories about other donors and recipients. One donor said it well "The courageous ones are those battling a disease, after my procedure I got to lay on my couch for a week and eat ice cream."
The folks at "be the match" were very accommodating and helpful along the way. You can visit their website www.marrow.org to learn more about the process.
Recently our pastor spoke about how to "be rich". Being rich is not about having a lot of money, but living through Christ and opening yourself up to be fulfilled. My wife is the richest person I know.
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| I purchased these Robin Roberts bracelets from Be the Match to remember the feeling I felt toward my wife that day during our walk |
