September 19. Most people would look at that date and see nothing…

September 19.
Most people would look at that date and see nothing special...
I see the day we were told Luke was 100% donor engrafted. 💚

Before transplant, they essentially had to wipe out Luke's bone marrow to make room for his donor's cells. Then on transplant day, we watched a bag of someone else's stem cells run through his central line.

It was strangely uneventful for something that carried so much hope.

And then we waited.
We waited for those cells, from a complete stranger, to find their way into our little boy's bone marrow and start making blood.

We watched his labs constantly. We celebrated tiny changes that wouldn't mean anything to most people.

And eventually we got the news we had been waiting for.

100% donor engrafted.

I remember how huge those words felt.
Because that wasn't just a percentage on a piece of paper. It meant his donor's cells were there. They had taken hold. They were working.
Someone we had never met had given Luke a brand-new blood-forming system and, with it, another chance.

Fun fact about Bone Marrow Transplants, the recipient will likely take on traits of the donor. Their blood type will change, they are likely to have the same allergies, and lots of other little things. After transplant, Luke consumed an insane amount of sausage. If you're on my personal FB, you probably remember all yhe shashage videos!!! Turns out, that is one of his donors favorite foods!

I wish I could say that was the end of Luke's cancer story. We know now that it wasn't. His leukemia eventually came back, and there are parts of this story I would give anything to rewrite.

But I will never let the way Luke's story ended erase how incredible this part of it was.

His transplant worked. His donor's cells engrafted. We got that chance.

And we got it because somewhere, at some point, a stranger decided to join the NMDP Registry.

They probably didn't know whose name would eventually be on the other side of that decision.
They didn't know there would be a mom watching her baby's blood counts.
They didn't know his name would be Luke.

But when we needed them, they were there.
So every September 19, I will remember that stranger. I will remember that bag hanging from Luke's IV pole. I will remember waiting. And I will remember hearing 100%.

If you're eligible, please consider joining the
NMDP registry. All it takes to get started is a cheek swab.

You may never be called.
But you could also be the stranger another mom spends the rest of her life being grateful for. 💚🎗️