The Best Christmas Present Ever

Donor Amy Lyn (in festive sweater) with her fiance Rylan, her Uncle Jeff (6-year BMT survivor) and her mother, Judy

Niece Amy Lyn describes the opportunity to donate bone marrow as “the best Christmas present ever!”  It certainly is the best gift that is humanly possible to give.  Many of us on the donor side are praying for a little girl we’ve never met but who will, hopefully, have our familial blood flowing through her veins within a month - when Amy’s marrow begins producing blood in the little girl’s body. 

Leading up to donation day, we prayed Amy would stay healthy and safe, just as we prayed for Jeff’s donor leading up to his bone marrow transplant.  We know that on the recipient side there is a fair amount of anxiety that something will prevent the transplant from happening.  Amy did what she could to stay healthy, working from home as much as possible and taking vitamins.

On the eve of Amy’s donation, Uncle Jeff texted her, “Have a marrow nice day tomorrow!”  And the Nurse Coordinator texted her to say that the patient was ready to receive her marrow and was “at the point of no return”.  The reminder that the situation was dire made Amy nervous, “Just wrap me in bubble wrap!”

The collection center was in Philadelphia and Amy was accompanied there by her mother (my sister Judy) and her fiancé, Rylan.  They were treated like VIPs at the hospital - beginning with the parking valet who knew what Amy was there to do and continuing with Amy’s nurse and the team who harvested her marrow.

Judy noticed that Amy relaxed once she was at the hospital being prepped.  Marrow donors need family support and, no matter how willingly given, it doesn’t come without a bit of anxiety.  The mother of Jeff’s donor told me she was very nervous about Nicole’s donation because she’d given birth less than a year before.  Yet she supported Nicole’s decision to donate bone marrow to a man she had never met.

During Amy’s procedure, Judy and Rylan sat in a waiting room together.  When the collection was finished, the entire team of about five doctors and nurses came to the waiting room to report that Amy was awake and doing well.  Rylan noticed one member of the team holding the precious cooler-full of marrow and asked, “Shouldn’t you be on a train or plane?”  The doctor said some other things, the team left, and Judy and Rylan realized neither one of them heard anything past “Amy is awake and doing well.”  Mr. G, a stranger who happened to be sitting nearby and not emotionally attached to the situation, heard everything the doctor said and was able to fill in the blanks for Judy and Rylan. 

If you are the squeamish sort, you may want to skip to the last paragraph.  We sometimes forget that “transplant talk” is not normal for most people.  It is still a relatively rare medical procedure and transplants using actual marrow – rather than stem cells – is rarer still (30% of bone marrow transplants).

During the three-hour procedure under anesthesia, Amy was infused with her own blood (drawn a couple of weeks ago for this purpose).  While in recovery, she had a reaction to the pain medication and vomited.  She was given anti-nausea and pain meds through her IV and was kept overnight at the hospital to monitor her blood counts and change her dressings in the morning.

Two liters of marrow were collected via six holes in her hips (130+ extractions - only small bits could be collected each time so as not to dilute the marrow, she was told).  Amy had no concept of what two liters of marrow looked like so I sent her a picture of Uncle Jeff’s (well, Nicole’s) two liters of marrow.  I told her how worried I was that the hole to hang it on the IV pole would stretch too far and break - even though Jeff’s nurse said that never happens.

The day after donation Amy was doing well but was bothered by numbness in her left hand which rendered it almost useless.  We speculated that her hand was pinched underneath her or hanging off the table.  Full use was restored within a couple of days.  I suggested Amy alert the doc so future donors could be positioned to prevent this from happening.  The Nurse Coordinator asked a lot of questions about her hand so Amy felt the issue would be addressed.  In addition to the follow-up phone call from the Nurse Coordinator, the anesthesiologist called to check on Amy.  They treated her like the VIP she is!

Nicole offered Amy this post-donation advice:  eat lots of iron-rich foods.  Nicole enjoyed a bloody steak the night of her donation because “the body knows what it needs”.  Amy was prescribed iron and folic acid for a month.  “Oh, that is smart!” Nicole says. 

On Christmas day (Day Zero plus 4) Amy looked tired, moved a little gingerly due to her sore hips, but she glowed!  (Hmmm, is that a halo?)  We’d texted a lot during the last few days and seeing her, hugging her, brought tears to my eyes.  Her family pampered her as warranted and maybe a bit more than was necessary.

Amy will get brief reports about her recipient’s recovery periodically.  She wrote to her recipient and hopes to hear something from her or her family although she understands that they may be overwhelmed right now.  Even if she doesn’t hear from them soon – or at all - I know they are thinking of Amy and are in total awe of her gift, the best Christmas present ever!