Montana Woman Opens Up About Life-Changing Bone Marrow Donation

The surgeon had just finished removing the arterial line from my femoral artery, and the nurses assumed my tears were relief, glad it was finally over. But that wasn’t why I cried. No, my tears came from somewhere much deeper.

My bone marrow donation journey had just ended, and suddenly, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of what had happened.

I wasn’t just thinking about me anymore. While my part of the journey was complete, the path for the young woman receiving my marrow was only just beginning. And in that moment, I felt a flood of emotions - joy, hope, sadness, and an aching love for someone I had never met.

A Gift Born From My Dad’s Battle

I live here in Montana, and this story is mine, but it started long before I ever imagined it would. In 2012, after my dad received a life-saving bone marrow transplant from a complete stranger, I joined Be The Match, which is now called the National Marrow Donor Program. I wanted to pay it forward, to offer someone else the same precious gift that saved my dad’s life.

But deep down, I never thought I would be the one to get the call. So when, in March 2017, my phone rang and I was told I was a potential match, shock stopped me cold. I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t call my husband or my family. I didn’t even think about work. All I could say was “Yes! Yes, yes, yes” because I felt in my bones this was my purpose.

The Waiting and the Waiting Some More

The very next day, I went for blood work to see if I was the best match for a young woman fighting leukemia. Then I waited. Days turned into weeks and then into a whole month of anxious hope until the call finally came: I was her primary match.

From there, I faced a battery of tests and a full physical. It was so important to make sure I was healthy enough to donate. I remember the doctors checking every detail: my blood counts, potassium, liver enzymes, and thyroid function. Every test was a step closer to saving a life. And with every positive result, my resolve only grew stronger.

No Backing Out

I was given chances to say no, to step away if I changed my mind. But in my heart, I knew there was no other way. I was matched for a reason, and I was determined to give hope, to give life, to a woman I would never meet but would always carry with me.

The Reality Behind the Myths

People imagine bone marrow donation like the painful, dramatic scenes in movies: the drilling, the agony. That’s not the reality for most donors, including me.

I donated through peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation. For five days, I gave myself injections of filgrastim to increase stem cells in my bloodstream. Then came the apheresis day, which is where blood was drawn from one arm, stem cells filtered out, and blood returned through the other arm. Hours in a hospital bed, quietly hoping for good news.

The Unexpected Challenge

During my physical, doctors checked my veins. Mine were too small to handle the large needles needed, so they placed an arterial line in my femoral artery, deep in my leg, near my groin.

It wasn’t comfortable. I won’t pretend it was. But the procedure was done carefully and with local anesthesia. The aches and exhaustion from the injections were tough, bone and muscle pain that lingered. Still, none of it compared to the life I was helping to save.

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Day Zero: A Second Birthday

When I was told my stem cells had been transplanted, I cried again.
The recipient calls that day “Day Zero” - their second birthday - the moment their life begins again. It’s hard to put into words how profound that is, knowing you gave someone a fresh start.

The Agonizing Unknown

It’s been eight years since I donated. I wish I could tell you the young woman who received my bone marrow is alive and well, thriving beyond cancer. But privacy laws changed, and I lost the right to know her fate. When I got that last update in 2018 letting me know the law changed and I wouldn’t find out anything more, I felt like my heart was ripped out and trampled on. The not knowing is a deep ache I carry every day.

Holding On to Hope, Even in the Silence

Am I bitter? No. But I’m undeniably sad. I knew I might never meet my girl, as I call her, but I wasn’t prepared to never know if she survived. Every day, I think of her. I pray for her. I write her letters that no one will ever read, and I do it because she changed my life forever. That young woman, my girl, shares a piece of me now, forever.

Would I Do It Again? In a Heartbeat

Despite the pain, exhaustion, and the unanswered questions, I would say yes all over again. Because this gift, this miracle, is worth everything. I’m proud to have been part of something bigger than myself.

The Stark Reality Behind the Numbers

Every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every ten minutes, someone dies from it. That’s 148 lives lost every single day, many because there just aren’t enough donors.

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You could be the one who changes that. You could be the one who saves a life.
So, what are you waiting for? Find out how you can join the National Marrow Donor Registry and perhaps one day save a life – a life like my dad’s.