The 12 O'clock Appointment

Our Two Stories – Stem Cell Transplants

Stem cell transplants, when you’re on, as Brian calls it, the family plan. Brian’s stem cell transplant in 2020 was called Autologous (ah-tall-low-gus), which means he was able to use his own stem cells. Before his transplant, he had a port inserted and we went to Huntsville Hospital so the stem cell team could gather his cells from it.

They put his cells in a deep freeze, and when it came time for him to have them back, they hooked the bag of, then thawed stem cells, to his port and the bag of his own cells drips in just like a bag of fluids does. Once his stem cells are “back home”… now get this… they find their way back to where they once lived, and settle back into their own space, as if they have been on vacation for a time. They make themselves comfortable and then get busy doing their little stem cell things. (Tell me we are not fearfully and wonderfully made!) This (receiving his stem cells), is what was known as Brian’s beginning stage of healing.

The stem cell transplant I will go through is called Allogeneic (allow-gen-ay-ic), meaning I will need a donor to supply my new stem cells. UAB placed me in an international database looking for the best match for me. It will take three to six months to get ready for transplant and in the meantime, I will be getting cleared by various doctors to ensure I am ready when a donor is found. When I receive my new stem cells – I begin phase two of the transplant. They will watch closely for any rejection, so for me, that is the most sensitive stage.

While Brian and I sat in the waiting room of the bone marrow clinic at UAB, an elderly gentleman told the receptionist his stem cell donor was a lady from Europe, and after he was healed, he wanted to call her and take her to dinner.

That is a sweet story, and my point in writing about it is, if stem cell donation is something you have ever considered, or never considered before, there are people around the world who may need yours. Who knew? I certainly didn’t. The process for you to be a donor requires you to have a cheek swab. The database (there is only one database and it is world-wide) will hold your information and if someone ever matches you, the stem cell team will call you and ask if you are still interested in donating your stem cells. If you are interested, go to  www.bethematch.org and they will take you step by step through the process.

Meanwhile, as I told someone at church about this process, a song came to mind and I said, so don’t mind me as I sing to The Lord, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match. Find me a find, catch me a catch. Matchmaker, Matchmaker, look through Your Book, and find me a perfect match!” We all got a good laugh. Maybe you had to be there.