Our Donor, Our Hero.

We recently wanted to send a Thank You to Bella's bone marrow donor in some way. I found it hard to think of a way to thank this girl we don't know, who gave so much for our little Bella. I just kept feeling like any way to thank her was too small, not enough. All I could think of is how much she is a 'hero' to us, a hero to Bella. 

Lyle came up with a beautiful idea and here it is: 

We found 2 beautiful silver necklace pendants and had them engraved. One for Bella and the other for her donor. They are connected by one bone. Half on Bella's and half on the donor's. Inside the donor's is the date of when she had the procedure to have her marrow drawn. And inside Bella's half bone, is the date of her transplant. 

On the other side of the donor's pendant reads, "Our Hero."

We also wrote a letter in the card and had them mailed to the donor on Wed. April 1st. Bella has hers in her room. I'll have to get a picture of her wearing her necklace soon. It was funny to note that our BMT nurse Moira pointed out she'll have to mail the necklace in a little baggy and we can't send it in the People's box because the box reads, "Canada's Diamond Store." And they can not give the information that we are from Canada. In the letter we also had to change our wording so that no specific information was given because that would go against OneMatch's rules. For example we had to change "our daughter" to "our child." 

I often think, "What else would I want to know if I was a bone marrow donor?" Well, I would want to know all the guesses the recipient and their family had about me. They make us wait so long to meet, so you are constantly wondering where are they from, what do they do, how old are they, etc. 

My very first guess about Bella's donor was she may be from France or Canada. 25 years old. A Lawyer, Doctor, medical professional or a student. Lyles guess was: From Scottland, 28y old and a mom.

For now we can send the donor letters that OneMatch checks strictly. But I would actually like to propose another idea to everyone. Something that we would have to maybe wait on giving to the donor, but that I think would still mean a lot to this girl down the road. 

So if any of you are interested please write a letter to Bella's bone marrow donor and send it to me. I'd like to keep them as keepsakes for Bella and also a gift to the donor, for when we can actually meet her. I think it would mean a lot to her to not only know what she did for Bella means so much to us but to Bella's extended family and friends aswell. If you are interested in doing this for Bella's donor please email me or mail letters to the Ronald McDonald house. My contact info is on the blog's home page bar. And add your guesses about the donor! I think that would be so fun. Take a guess on where she is from, (continent, country, province, state, city) age, and maybe what she does.

If you would like to send a thank you letter to our donor now, it may be more tricky but it's possible. You just have to be very careful with your wording, etc.

Updates on Bella: 

Today is +10 and we had a great Easter visit with Grandma Heather and Grandpa Wagner yesterday and today. 

Bella playing with her soft lil Easter bunny.  Bella also received some gifts from Grandma Davis (my mom Diana) and Uncle Ken and Aunty Beccy, and cousins Alexus and Lincoln. Thank you guys!

Day +9:

Yesterday I had a teary moment as I noticed Bella's beautiful hair come out in my hands. Yes, I was a blubbering mess. The chemo is still having the effect it's supposed to and this is part of it, but we stayed strong knowing it will grow back. And really, she's beautiful with or without hair. Doesn't matter either way, she's going to be ok.

Real real aweosme good news:

If you read one of my recent facebook posts you would notice my message of anger after I noticed that a nurse put a med through the wrong iv line in Bella's Broviak double lumen. (Has a blue and a yellow line) This was a med that they warned me about in the beginning because it sticks to the iv line and stays in it for a long time so they need the other lumen clear to draw blood and get precise levels. If a nurse ever got this wrong that would mean Bella being poked daily for months to get precise levels. 

Long story short, I caught the mistake in time, they tested the blood from the line yesterday morning and compared it, and it is very accurate with recent levels, so they can trust her line! This means NO POKES!!! Thank God!  The doctors noted this as being a very very close call and they are relieved it didn't effect her iv line as badly as they expected.