Last Friday I got a call to say that a fully matched, unrelated stem-cell donor has been found and is willing to donate stem cells. My children were all candidate donors, but they are not fully matched on all chromosomes and so the transplant would be more complicated and risky.
It triggered a huge sense of relief and gratitude. I had settled into a weekly pattern of Monday blood test, Tuesday results, Wednesday transfusion, and increasingly aware that the need for red blood cells was increasing. My energy levels have been steadily dropping, though I am still able to walk a reasonable distance. The uncertainty had induced a feeling of being stuck, though the finding of a donor is in the time frame the consultant suggested in December. Coupled with having to be careful on infection risks, and hence a much reduced family and social life, my usual optimism was being tested. So, relief is understandable.
The gratitude is for the fact that someone I do not know is willing to be a donor. Millions of people are registered internationally, and getting a donor match is dependent on a large population of candidates. Many people have been kind enough to offer to be tested, but there is no process for that as any one individual has a very low chance of being a match.
The gratitude is also to everyone who has supported me over the last six months – my wife, my family, my friends, and of course the NHS and its amazing staff. In a world that is so fractured and full of brutality, it is good to reflect that in fact most of the world runs on kindness.