A little over one year post-donation my phone rang again. My work-up specialist (the woman who walked me through the steps of my donation and the mandatory 1-year follow-up) was calling with my one year update on my recipient. The news was not good.
Unfortunately my recipient had passed. Since information is highly restricted she was not able to tell me when it had happened or from what. All we could say is that she passed sometime between the 6 month and 1 year mark. Everything else would just be guessing. In the years that have passed I've since learned that most transplants work; usually when a patient passes it's due to a complication like an infection.
Some donors feel it's their fault when their recipient passes; as if their cells should have done more to help. While this is an understandable feeling, it's simply not true. Each donor has done everything in their power to help. Period.
To this day, when I meet donors who are about to donate and I have a conversation with them. I tell them that their attitude is critical. If they go into this thinking they're going to save a life, there's a chance they may not. If they go into this thinking they're giving the precious gift of a second chance at life then they're going to succeed. Their attitude makes a world of difference.
A year and a half after my donation, I joined Be The Match as a full-time recruiter. My current job is to add potential donors to the Be The Match Registry. In my time with the organization I have added >12,000 members to the Registry. Several hundred of them have been identified as potential matches and 23 have gone on to donate to a patient in need. Many more of the members I've added will be called as donors in the future, even after I've retired my recruiter hat and moved on.
My life's journey has been somewhat akin to the ball found in a pinball machine; zinging in different directions as various paddles, ramps and holes appear. For me, my donation was like a paddle knocking my life in a 90 degree turn from the path it was on. What a ride.
Unfortunately my recipient had passed. Since information is highly restricted she was not able to tell me when it had happened or from what. All we could say is that she passed sometime between the 6 month and 1 year mark. Everything else would just be guessing. In the years that have passed I've since learned that most transplants work; usually when a patient passes it's due to a complication like an infection.
Some donors feel it's their fault when their recipient passes; as if their cells should have done more to help. While this is an understandable feeling, it's simply not true. Each donor has done everything in their power to help. Period.
To this day, when I meet donors who are about to donate and I have a conversation with them. I tell them that their attitude is critical. If they go into this thinking they're going to save a life, there's a chance they may not. If they go into this thinking they're giving the precious gift of a second chance at life then they're going to succeed. Their attitude makes a world of difference.
A year and a half after my donation, I joined Be The Match as a full-time recruiter. My current job is to add potential donors to the Be The Match Registry. In my time with the organization I have added >12,000 members to the Registry. Several hundred of them have been identified as potential matches and 23 have gone on to donate to a patient in need. Many more of the members I've added will be called as donors in the future, even after I've retired my recruiter hat and moved on.
My life's journey has been somewhat akin to the ball found in a pinball machine; zinging in different directions as various paddles, ramps and holes appear. For me, my donation was like a paddle knocking my life in a 90 degree turn from the path it was on. What a ride.
