Before I get into donor communication I should let you know that R is back in the hospital with clots in his right lung. He should be discharged on Sunday. A temporary snag, that’s all. He’s getting through it. 🙂

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We received a new letter from R’s stem cell donor in response to what I sent him describing the man who’s getting his donation. We’re not allowed to include any identifying information.

There’s never a shortage of words with me. I’m an author for a reason! Here is the correspondence we wrote today, most of which is mine!

Dear Donor,

We received your most recent letter, and our hearts warmed as we read your kind words.

I figured you might want an update about my husband’s health. He entered the hospital on December 6th and left on January 11th, which was longer than we expected. His cancer is uncommon. About 0.05–1.5 cases per 100,000 people are diagnosed each year. The particulars of this cancer make it harder for donor cells to “stick” and start making new, healthy blood.

The second day in the hospital, he experienced a medical emergency that no one could have predicted. Quite suddenly, he felt short of breath, his face turned red, then almost purple, and his body started to shake as if he was standing barefoot in the Siberian snow. It caught the medical team by surprise, and they gave him all sorts of medications to counteract the symptoms. He returned to a stable condition in about an hour. They think it happened because the dosage of a medication he’d been taking for about 2 years was reduced (a necessary step before transplant), and his body went through a rare form of withdrawal.

Luckily, he was still able to move ahead with the transplant on December 12th.

We all waited anxiously for your cells to arrive, and when they did, my husband held the bag in his hands, and I stood behind him, my arms wrapped around his shoulders. Our children and daughter-in-law were there. This was the moment we’d been waiting for after 2 ½ years of living under a dark cloud, stressed and scared.

His chance at a long life came all the way from Germany—a magical gift from halfway across the world. The moment the cells flowed into him was an almost out-of-body experience, like we were in a dream. Our daughter lay next to him in the hospital bed, her head on his chest. One of our sons sat in a chair with his wife holding his hand. His eyes were big and glossy. His wife began to cry. Our other son sat, his head bent down as tears streamed down his cheeks and onto the floor. I stood at the end of the bed and took a few photos. Then, I smiled broadly and looked around the room. The silence said it all as we soaked in HOPE. We felt connected to you at that moment.

The first few days after the transplant went well, and my husband had lots of energy and walked the hospital floor to get his exercise. On the 4th day, some unpleasant side effects kicked in—open sores in his mouth and throat, brutal belly pain (it turned out he had an infection) and later, gout in both feet. As expected, all the hair on his head fell out. But…he made it through and returned home, relieved and grateful to sleep in his own bed without being woken up every few hours by the nurses.

The only thing that remained was the gout in his feet, which made walking very painful.

Three days ago, he felt short of breath and dizzy. The medical team sent him to the hospital. After a scan of his chest, they discovered 2 blood clots in his right lung. He’s been there for 2 nights and might be there for a few more, until his platelets increase. They don’t want to give him blood thinners with low platelets, which could cause internal bleeding.

We knew to expect some challenges along the way.  He’ll get over this, but it’s disappointing that he’s back in the hospital so soon after his initial release.

But, your cells have completely “engrafted.” They have taken over and are doing all the work of creating normal blood cells. Hooray for your warrior cells!

My husband has to stay at home for the next 6 months or so because he’s extremely susceptible to infection. Everyone must wear a mask indoors. Traveling anywhere for the next year is out of the question. Can you imagine all the germs in an airport and on an airplane? After that, we have so many places to go—places we’ve dreamed of for a long time, mostly in Europe.

It’ll be tough this spring when he can’t work in our yard, which is beautiful, thanks to him. Plants and dirt can have fungus, spores and bacteria that could make him very sick. We’ll have to hire someone to keep up the yard as I am not too fond of weeding, trimming trees, etc. Dirt. Yuck.

We look forward to connecting with you after a year has gone by. Thanking you in person will be an honor.

Best,

The wife, mother and grandmother

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Dear Donor,

You have saved my life. Your generous donation has given my family and me hope for the future.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I would love nothing more than to meet you in person someday to honor you for your precious, selfless gift.

Sincerely, your transplant recipient