tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42821440266918341962011-06-27T07:54:24.209-05:00A Thank You Letter to the person who donated their child's cord blood at birth... and ultimately saved my daughter's life.mykidsmomx4http://www.blogger.com/profile/00710096551557703521noreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282144026691834196.post-30133526145315604332008-03-25T23:08:00.000-05:002008-03-31T18:13:10.851-05:00To The Parents of Our Donor,<br /><br />With all my heart, the first and most important thing I can say to you is Thank You.<br /><br />All I know about you is that on January 16<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span>, 2001 you gave your child's cord blood completely unselfishly to the National Cord Blood Bank. On May 18<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span>, 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Fairview</span>. God gave us good friends, generous neighbors, and a wonderful church family to help prepare our home for our return.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />All My Love, Prayers, and Gratitude,<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">mykidsmomx</span>4<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4282144026691834196-3013352614531560433?l=mykidsmomx4.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mykidsmomx4http://www.blogger.com/profile/00710096551557703521noreply@blogger.com16