More to Live For

Last night I went to a film festival where they showed "More to Live For" that was held in honor of a coworker's 18-month old baby niece, Winslet.

Winslet was born premature at 4 pounds, 8 ounces, was resuscitated in the delivery room, was critically ill with only 33% of the blood volume she should have had, and her vital organs were shutting down. She fought her way back to health during a seven week stay in the NICU, but there was one major lingering problem — Winslet was not making blood. After months of blood tests, dozens of transfusions, three bone marrow biopsies, and consulting with leading hematologists around the world, doctors were at a loss for a diagnosis and now refer to her condition as Winslet’s Disease.

Winslet's only chance for a cure was a life-saving bone marrow transplant. She was lucky — doctors quickly found a 6/6 match from the National Marrow Donor Program cord blood bank. Winslet endured eight days of around-the-clock intensive chemotherapy in preparation for her bone marrow transplant, which took place February 3, 2011. After 54 days in Medical City Dallas, Winslet faces two years of recovery before it will be known if the transplant was a success. 


The documentary "More to Live For" is shown by a non-profit called Love Hope Strength, which is an international, music-centric cancer charity dedicated to saving lives, one concert at a time. Right now, they're raising funds to build cancer centers around the world (Peru, Nepal, Tanzania...), build awareness of global cancer needs, and build an international bone marrow registry.
  
Before I saw this documentary last night, I really didn't know much about bone marrow transplants. I didn't realize there are thousands of people waiting to find a match today. I thought bone marrow donors had to be from the patient's family and there wasn't a need to "join a registry" because (thank the Lord) everyone in my family is healthy. Heck, I actually didn't know there was a registry.  

James Chippendale, the co-founder of Love Hope Strength, was blessed to find his match- a German man who has never left his small village outside of Berlin. A complete stranger on the other side of the world gave his bone marrow to save the life of a stranger- no questions asked. That's the way this world should be.
James was at the film screening last night and he was describing how he was laying on his death bed, losing a battle with leukemia, when he found his match. Once he began recovering, he had to transition back into the real world. He said there was a pre-cancer James and a post-cancer James and everything in life was completely different. He said, "All of a sudden, I didn't understand why this person was yelling at the traffic, and that person was honking...." He is so grateful to be alive, he doesn't let the petty stressors get to him- why should anyone!?

I joined the bone marrow registry after the movie. All it took was a simple 10 second cotton swab in my cheek and I could be someone's match. They can't get that swab to a lab fast enough- I want to get the call NOW that I can save someone. Isn't that so cool that we can save lives just with the blood that's pumping through our veins?! It doesn't get much cooler than that.