Why Am I Doing This?

Over the course of this process, I have made multiple visits to the New York Presbyterian Hospital for testing and meeting with doctors & transplant nurses. In total, I have spent about 5 hours in their waiting room and had the chance to see a variety of patients awaiting treatment. There are always at least two who have lost their hair from chemotherapy, at least two anxious middle-aged women waiting with their ailing parents, and thankfully no children. Sometimes I see young children there with their parents and I pray that the parents are donors too and that the kids are not here to support their parents in treatment. Each time I am there, it makes me wonder about the patient on the other side of my donation.

Does she have a family waiting with her? Is she a mom? If not, will she get the chance to be? Is she anxious about the transplant? How long has she been battling this disease? I have so many questions for this person and so much hope that I can help her in some way.

What I am moved by in the waiting room is that people are in good spirits. A lot of people look at me and smile. I am often the youngest person in the room and feel like I should wear a t-shirt that says "Don't worry, I'm not sick" but then I would feel bad for rubbing it in their faces. In the blood draw room, the lab tech asked me if I was here today for chemotherapy. It really struck me that there are so many types of cancer and so many diseases that anyone at any age can be battling a disease. The man next to me in the reclining chair (where I will return for my donation on Monday), was so proud to say that this is the only day he had to take off for treatment. Life really does go on, even when you are fighting for your own.

Back in the blood draw room, I explained to the nurse that I'm here to prepare for a donation. She asks if I know the person and I say no. And add that I actually know nothing about her, other than her age and her diagnosis. She asks the same questions that everyone asks: why are you doing this? How did you get involved? I feel like it was all really by chance. I stumbled into a bone marrow registration drive in Earl Hall one day my sophomore year in college and registered spontaneously. I didn't think much about it until this year. I'm really amazed by the technology of it all. How they can match me with this patient, track me a down after almost 10 years and put the whole process together so quickly. Then, the fact that they don't have to do surgery to remove my bone marrow but can simply take the cells from my blood and give it to the patient just absolutely amazes me. I wish I knew more about biology and medicine to really grasp all of this. For now, I'm just thankful.