BMT Birthday

Yesterday was the 7th year I celebrated my bone marrow transplant with Megan and the family. It's crazy how time has flown! We celebrate by me giving Megan a gift, and then my parents give all of us kids our Christmas ornaments for the year. Broc was able to come and share this happy memory with all of us and my mom even got him his own ornament...a candy cane that was decorated with Utes all over it. We still don't approve of him siding with the enemy team but he is always welcome at our house! I now want to share a page of the journal my parents kept while I was in the hospital for everyone to keep up on what was going on.

Nov 27, 2001
Transplant Day!

This is from Ruth

We got Megan checked into the hospital at 6:00 a.m. and then Roger and I each took a daughter and stayed with them. Megan's bone marrow harvest was done around 9:30 a.m. Then they had to process it and get as many stem cells from it as they could. Heather was patiently waiting in her room. Poor thing--her face was so puffy and swollen. She could hardly see out of her eyes. I was down with Megan as she was in recovery. She had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia and I had a hard time staying awake. At 1:30, they came down and told me that they were starting the transplant and that we could take Megan up to Heather's room in a wheelchair so she could be with her sister. I wheeled her up there and opened the door into Heather's room. Heather and Megan looked at each other and both smiled, and in a tired and weak voice, said hello to each other. As a mother, watching this little interchange between sisters gave me such a warm feeling of love. This experience will give them such a strong bond of sisterhood. I love these two daughters of mine!
We wheeled Megan over to the couch an got her comfortable so she could be there with Heather as her life-giving bone marrow dripped into Heather's line. Several staff members came in with gifts for the 2 girls and sang "Happy Birthday" to Heather. They say that it is a tradition for Heather to have an additional birthday--her BMT (bone marrow transplant) birthday. We had party hats for everyone to wear. Roger's parents were also here, alone with Nathan and Natalie. Amie was home sick with a neighbor and we couldn't afford to have her be around Heather. After the song, the girls were given a poster, a mylar balloon, a beanie baby bear, and a blanket from the staff. Then Roger and I gave them each a Hallmark Christmas ornament. Megan's was a little fairy that was giving away an icicle. Heather's was a little fair that was holding a small bag to receive the gift. Then Heather gave Megan a gift and wants that to be a yearly tradition, because basically, Megan is giving Heather the gift of living.

It's so humbling to go through and read all these journal entries. The time in the hospital is such a blur to me, but I am so thankful for Megan and for this special gift that she has given me. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful loving parents who stayed strong and never gave up hope during this hard time in our lives. I'm so thankful for the support of friends and other family members that I received during this time in my life! Without them, this would've been a long, lonely trial. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!