My co-worker reminded me that I haven't posted on here in over a month. I'm sorry. Things got really busy and I just didn't have time to sit and write about what's going on in my life. Here is the short abbreviated version:
On Friday, November 22nd, I received a FedEx package containing some important forms from DKMS. I had registered to be a bone marrow donor in October of 2007 and was a potential match for a patient who is in need of a bone marrow transplant. After sleeping on the butterflies in my stomach, I asked my parents and Daddy-2-bee what they thought. Luckily, they said they would support any decision I make. If I wasn't already all-in, after speaking to my donation coordinator, I found out that the patient was a 60 years old woman who suffered from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. That's what Grandpa JM had. Luckily for him, he was able to fight off the cancerous cells with just chemotherapy. At that point, I've made up my mind. I was going to do this. I looked up numerous donor and patient success stories of bone marrow transplants and was enlightened by the fact that so many people gave away a piece of their body for a stranger. A few people have come to me shocked that I was going to go through with this and asked "Do you know that it is really painful?!" YES! I do know that the process of the bone marrow extraction is quite unpleasant (to put it nicely) but you can potentially save a life, and give them more time with their loved ones. If my father was on the list of patients looking for a match, I would hope someone could return the favor. Sort of like pay-it-forward.
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| Potential Match Letter |
In the efforts of trying to get more fit and healthy, I decided to start P90X. My goal is to complete the program but after 4 days in, I feel completely exhausted, hungry all the time and aching everywhere. We'll see how many days I last!
I also was invited to join the Young Executive Board for my old crew team. I think it would be something new to get involved in. I wished I had more time over the years to give back to the organization, Row New York, but things always get in the way. I feel like by sitting on this board, I would be able to give my input and be part of the behind-the-scenes team.
Let's see what 2014 brings!
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