Pikuach nefesh:
In 2002, one of our friends in Riverdale was dying of leukemia, and the synagogue held a bone marrow drive. We all got cheek swabbed and entered into the Gift of Life bone marrow registry. No match was found, and Matt passed away not too long after.
Cut to me getting to Florida last week for Pesach with my parents. I got a text message from NuTty saying that they're now trying to get in touch with me - all my NY contact info is out of date so they went to my local contact, which is her. She must've given them my new work number, I guess, because they called there as well! Thus, my coworker texted me with the same info. (I did have a nice little talk with NuTty out of this.) I was able to get in touch with the organization after a few days, and here's the gist of it:
I am a potential match with a 36 year old male with an acute form of leukemia. If I still consent, the process goes that first, they will send a cheek swab kit to my house to do that again. There is a 20% chance that this retesting will show I am still a good match for this patient (no further info given due to confidentiality). Pending the results of this, I will be directed to a place for a blood sample, to see if I am further matched with blood typing. This takes 4-6 weeks to do. If so, and if I am not eliminated for other reasons or the donor has another close match or decides not to/is unable to receive a transplant, they will fly me to a clinic/hospital with whom they work - at no cost to me - for a physical, a 1-day trip. There's a 30% chance that after that level of detail, I will still be a match.
If so, anywhere from 2 weeks to many months later, I can be contacted that the donor is ready for a bone marrow transplant and I will be flown back to the same place - at no cost to me - for one of two procedures, either apheresis to get the peripheral blood stem cells separated from my blood (similar to platelet donation: line going in, line going out, takes hours, and also 5 days of shots beforehand to increase the PBSC) or bone marrow (done in one day, maybe overnight required for recovery but that's up to the hospital).
I am excited to be a match - it's weird, to be excited by this, but it's true. This is HUGE. This is so incredibly soul-satisfying, to be able to potentially save a life! A major Jewish value is that of saving a life - pikuach nefesh - and getting the opportunity to not wait for organ donation, to give of myself in such a fundamental way, how could I not do this? It is an honor and a privilege. That sounds really cheesy, but it's actually a deep feeling.
I would not have hesitated to donate for Matt. No-one in our congregation would have. He was such a good man, and I am sad that his wife and kids and friends all lost him. He did all he could, we did all we could, and he made the best of his time that remained. I hope that the patient who I can help finds either me or another suitable match, and gets to live his life to the fullest.
This entry was originally posted at https://avivasedai.dreamwidth.org/715935.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Cut to me getting to Florida last week for Pesach with my parents. I got a text message from NuTty saying that they're now trying to get in touch with me - all my NY contact info is out of date so they went to my local contact, which is her. She must've given them my new work number, I guess, because they called there as well! Thus, my coworker texted me with the same info. (I did have a nice little talk with NuTty out of this.) I was able to get in touch with the organization after a few days, and here's the gist of it:
I am a potential match with a 36 year old male with an acute form of leukemia. If I still consent, the process goes that first, they will send a cheek swab kit to my house to do that again. There is a 20% chance that this retesting will show I am still a good match for this patient (no further info given due to confidentiality). Pending the results of this, I will be directed to a place for a blood sample, to see if I am further matched with blood typing. This takes 4-6 weeks to do. If so, and if I am not eliminated for other reasons or the donor has another close match or decides not to/is unable to receive a transplant, they will fly me to a clinic/hospital with whom they work - at no cost to me - for a physical, a 1-day trip. There's a 30% chance that after that level of detail, I will still be a match.
If so, anywhere from 2 weeks to many months later, I can be contacted that the donor is ready for a bone marrow transplant and I will be flown back to the same place - at no cost to me - for one of two procedures, either apheresis to get the peripheral blood stem cells separated from my blood (similar to platelet donation: line going in, line going out, takes hours, and also 5 days of shots beforehand to increase the PBSC) or bone marrow (done in one day, maybe overnight required for recovery but that's up to the hospital).
I am excited to be a match - it's weird, to be excited by this, but it's true. This is HUGE. This is so incredibly soul-satisfying, to be able to potentially save a life! A major Jewish value is that of saving a life - pikuach nefesh - and getting the opportunity to not wait for organ donation, to give of myself in such a fundamental way, how could I not do this? It is an honor and a privilege. That sounds really cheesy, but it's actually a deep feeling.
I would not have hesitated to donate for Matt. No-one in our congregation would have. He was such a good man, and I am sad that his wife and kids and friends all lost him. He did all he could, we did all we could, and he made the best of his time that remained. I hope that the patient who I can help finds either me or another suitable match, and gets to live his life to the fullest.
This entry was originally posted at https://avivasedai.dreamwidth.org/715935.html. Please comment there using OpenID.