The End Date and Fate

I think I was going to just a regular check up at NIH. I don't remember there be anything out of the ordinary. But during that visit everything changed. I was 17. It was the middle of my senior year in high school. My doctor, Dr. Holland, sat down with my parents and myself in a private room. I don't even remember how he said it. But what I do know is that he told me that I needed to consider a bone marrow transplant because if I didn't get one, I was at risk of getting an infection and dying- probably within the next two years. My life had an end date.

The usual response would be tears. And maybe I did cry- I don't remember. But I was also excited. If I got a BMT (this will be my abbreviation for bone marrow transplant from now on), that meant I would be cured. I wouldn't have to worry about infections all the time, about remembering to take my pills, about avoiding mold and fungus. We had known that a BMT was an option, but I was never sick enough to warrant one. But now I was.  So our next question was "where?"

We asked trustworthy Dr. Holland at NIH. He had been treating me since I was five and he was like family to us. He said that if it were his daughter that needed a transplant, he would take her to either Duke or Cincinnati Children's Hospital. So we thought about it. In the meantime, we also started getting my sisters tested to see who was the best match to be my donor. It was amazing that they were all so willing to do that for me. And it turned out Mercedes was my best match. At the time, she was finishing up med school and starting her medical internship search with her boyfriend (now husband) Dave.

Eventually my parents and I decided that Cincinnati was the best option. And within a week Mercedes and Dave were matched to a hospital for their internship... It was Cincinnati Children's Hospital. That's when we knew it was truly meant to be. It could not have been any other way. Or in my words- so crazy!! It's like it was a sign that this was going to happen and I was going to be okay.

That was in March of 2008. Between then and when I got my transplant that August, I was on an emotional roller coaster. I specifically remember just walking out of the choir room and sitting on the ground crying just because the thought was overwhelming. Also, I was getting sicker. I had to drop out of the high school musical. It was a minute thing, but it meant a lot to me. I got thinner and a bit weaker. But everyone was there with me- excited and terrified.