To The Parents of Our Donor,
With all my heart, the first and most important thing I can say to you is Thank You.
All I know about you is that on January 16th, 2001 you gave your child's cord blood completely unselfishly to the National Cord Blood Bank. On May 18th, 2007 my daughter was given that blood for her stem cell transplant. That 20 minute infusion saved her life. Nearly a year later, she is doing amazingly. In so many ways, she is doing much better than doctors ever expected.
When my fourteen month old was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Hurler's Syndrome on December 27, 2006, I thought my world had ended. I had known that something was wrong for months, but it took so long to get to a doctor who had the experience to diagnose her... and now I was being told that her time with us would not last.
Just a few days later I found out that there was a cutting edge treatment for the syndrome available at only a few hospitals in the country...a bone marrow transplant. I knew we had no choice, and again I had some hope. A few weeks into the process of getting Lauren ready for transplant, we got a call. The National Marrow Donor Program Registry had found two 6 of 6 matches among the cord blood stored in the stem cell bank. Both were tested and the one chosen was yours.
The transplant was a tough five months for my family as I had to send Lauren's three older siblings to live with their father and move six hours away to Minneapolis, MN. The kids were 3, 5, and 9 and the only thing harder than leaving them was knowing that I might not get to bring their sister back to them. Thankfully, we were all five reunited in September.
God carried us through that time apart though and even found me a nice church home in Minneapolis during our stay. He provided shelter and food through the Ronald McDonald House. He provided expert care through the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital-Fairview. God gave us good friends, generous neighbors, and a wonderful church family to help prepare our home for our return.
But most importantly, God gave us this gift of life through you and I will never be able to thank you enough. I only wish you could read this letter. You may never know the impact of your decision, but I will tell the world.
All My Love, Prayers, and Gratitude,
mykidsmomx4
15 comments:
What a wonderful sentiment! You give me so much hope, Kindall. Thank you for always being so open about Lauren's story.
What a beautiful letter! I wish more information was given to expectant mothers regarding cord blood donation. When I was having my children, I would have loved to donate their cord blood, but all the information I received was about paying rent in a blood bank to bank the cord blood for yourself, which we declined to do.
Next time, you can bet we'll be donating! Thanks for putting it out there.
What an important message. Isn't it amazing that none of us knew anything about cord blood donations until Gracie was diagnosed with Hurlers. I intend to make it my personal mission to get the information about donating cord blood out to the doctors and midwives in my area.
Thanks for sharing.
Gracie's noni
Yay for Lauren and her donor!
We all need to start demanding that our local hospitals participate in cord blood donation! There isn't a single hospital in my state the offers new moms this option. So ladies, pick up your phones, get your e-mails going, and even start snail mailing to the hospitals in your area and ask them to participate in this life saving program so we can have more Lauren's in this world!! God Bless this family!
Truly beautiful story and I am happy for you and your family. You definitely are a strong family and blessed.
Michelle :)
The only thing that I can think of is to keep on circulating your blog information and perhaps because of the importance of the DATES involved, the person will then know it refers to them. I have a friend who donated bone marrow to someone in Germany, and unfortunately, although she could pass letters to him, she was not allowed to know his name or meet him. The intention was that while he was sick, they could not meet face to face. If after one year, his health had returned, they could then set up a meeting. He died just short of the year mark, and she still doesn't know his name. However, God does.
Kindall,
I am amazed by your strength & so VERY proud of you even more by reading this. It was a wonderful expression of how grateful your family is towards a family you dont even know. Sure the words were hard to find to express the feelings you feel.
You & Lauren are quite an inspiration to all. Words can't say how strong Lauren's story keeps everyone. If that little girl can..we can!
God bless you & your family. Keep going strong girl! Spread the word!
Wow, I'm so taken by this letter. Thank you for visiting my blog and leading me hear... Big hug to you and your girls.
Thanks for the link, your post has made me realize the importance of stem cells and I will surely preserve them.
Our Pregnancy Blog : www.ekkhwab.wordpress.com
What an amazing story and heartfelt letter.
I found you through SMS' site and had to come say hello since like you, I am also a single mom of four. Now after reading your blog, well, my youngest daughter's name is Lauren who is 3 1/2 and has a differnt father than my older three. We have a few things in common!
What a touching letter! When my oldest was born, I don't know if cord blood donation even existed. I never heard of it. When my youngest came along, I wanted to do it but none of the hospitals in my area allowed donations, only paying to bank the blood for yourself. I will definitely be passing this letter along and if I ever have another child, I will find a way to do the donation, one way or another. Best wishes to you and your beautiful family!
Wonderful letter. I'm glad your baby is healthy. She's beautiful.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting on things that single moms want and/or need. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
What an awesome thing to do! Even though the parents might not read this letter it will definitely inspire other families to do what they did, as a result of seeing how valuable it can be! :)
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