Miscellaneous Memoirs

Bad news, my mom called this morning to let me know that my uncle Ray was admitted to the hospital last night. Apparently, my other aunt and uncle went to Ray and Kathleen's house last night to hang out and left about 8 p.m. and Ray was fine. By 9 my aunt Kathleen had to take him to the ER, :(. He was running a high fever which can be scary because his immune system is so weak. I haven't heard anymore news except that he is waiting on a bed and will be in the hospital until they can figure out what is going on. Please keep him and my aunt in your thoughts and/or prayers. As I mentioned in a TNT letter I mailed out recently, Ray is eligible for a bone marrow stem cell transplant! This is awesome news and can be life saving. After my mom and her brothers were tested and were not matches the doctors actually found one that was nearly perfect, an anonymous donor, right before Christmas. Unfortunately the donor backed out, or changed their mind, or whatever, it sucks and was obviously a big disappointment. However, there are some other possible matches that they are evaluating so this is good! This could possible save Ray's life and allow him to life cancer free! Please also keep him in your thoughts that this transplant happens, he needs it. The transplant process is a roller coaster of emotion, just like they show it on TV. I know it's really hard on Ray and Kathleen and our family to get news there is a match and that change so quickly, so I hope that we don't have to go through that again. It is apparently common for donor's to change their minds though, which is unfair and shouldn't be allowed in my opinion, so I pray that Ray and Kathleen have the strength to get through this process of finding a reliable match. Ray would receive an allogenic transplant, or one that uses a donor's marrow instead of his own. It's very interesting to hear about the process, etc and you can read about it at http://www.lls.org/all_page?item_id=5965&gclid=CJqehdLhoZ8CFRSdnAod-wpcJw. If you are interested in joining the bone marrow registry, please visit Be The Match's website at http://www.marrow.org/index.html?src=GOOG04304. It is as simple as swabbing the inside of your cheek and you can save a life. If you are skeptical just ask yourself, why not?! Do it! Thanks for the support everyone!