News

It was early on a Sunday morning. We were getting ready to make our way down the coast to meet with our Cribb Island Board Riders. I walked out of our kitchen and into the living room to see Shane sitting completely stunned and as white as a ghost. 

"What is it?" I ask. 

"You're going to have read it to believe it" he says. 

It was an email. 

A very special email. 

One we had been hoping for, but not sure if we were going to get it. 

I read this email with equal parts amazement, gratitude and bewilderment! 

It was from Shane's Donor. 

The man responsible for Shane's new immune system - Leaping Leroy Loggins! 

Unfortunately, his name was not Leroy (a topic discussed earlier) and for his privacy, we will call him Mr Donor for future reference. 

Mr Donor is from Western Australia and has children the same age as us. He signed up to the Bone Marrow Registry as a dying wish from his friend who passed away at the age of 29 years, due to a lack of a matching donor. That is pretty a good incentive to sign up, but a heart-braking one. We are sorry to hear about his loss. 

The email was so eloquent and it answered almost all of our questions. This part was the most touching: 

"You were very much in my thoughts the day my stem cells were harvested. I could only imagine how you must have been feeling after massive doses of radiation and chemo to destroy your bone marrow. I knew we were at the point of no return and I hoped and prayed that everything would go to plan. I was somewhat relieved, after the harvest, when one of the nurses picked up the bag of pink jelly like stuff and said "Wow! Look at this, perfect colour, excellent quantity and so quick!" They were very impressed."

"I was totally surprised to learn that, it was not up to you to accept my cells, but for my cells to accept you and that regardless of what blood group you were, you will now have my blood group. So, its only right to share something else with you, and i want you to feel free to use it, and its a saying I have, "Blood group and attitude - B positive". 

What a great saying and one that we firmly live by! 

Mr Donor is a motor bike enthusiast and since reading this email, I have been bombarded by "I want to get a motor-bike, its in my blood". All I hear is "blah blah blah, motorbike, blah blah blah"! Of course you can get a bike baby, but it will be over my dead body! I haven't fought so hard to keep you alive all these years, only to have you throw it away on the roads! 

As for us, Im sure you can all guess by the lack of blog posts, that life is returning to normal. Ahh, normality, so refreshing! Shane returned to work last month and is really enjoying it. His vision in his right eye is still a problem, but it is slowly improving. His is still on his immunosuppresants but even these are being reduced gradually. He is looking good overall, but still a shadow of his former self. We are enjoying our puppy. She has been such a welcome addition to our lives! 

We were able to go camping over easter, and finally had the opportunity to use some of the camping gear we bought when we were planning to go down to Sydney just as Shane relapsed and spent our holiday back in hospital. We went to Murwilimbar to climb Mt Warning. It was such a great trip to get back into the swing of it! Hopefully there will be plenty more camping adventures to come!  

One final note, Mr Donor, we are so thankful for your contact and for your cells. We want you to know that your cells are treated well with a good and healthy life, and not being taken for granted. Words will never express how grateful we both are for this second chance in life. I would have given anything and everything to save my husband's life, and I am so glad that you were able to do what I couldn't. 

Thank you.

Peace

xx   

 This is us paddling the Tweed River with Dizzee Do over easter.